New Beginnings
by MissyMo2005
Summary: Sequel to Twist of Fate.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Heels. She was still trying to work out quite what had possessed her to wear them when she eventually got back to her office. She kicked them off under the desk the second she flopped down in her chair. She'd been in and out of an endless stream of meetings all day- without a doubt the worst part of her new job- and it hadn't helped her mood. She was tired and most of all she missed Charles. They'd both known this tour was coming for a while but having time to prepare for it hadn't actually made it any easier when it came to waving him off.

She logged back into her computer, groaning at the sheer number of emails that had come through in the couple of hours she'd been away from her desk. She was quietly thankful that she had something to do- the house was far too quiet with him gone, but she also wanted to go home at some point before midnight. She wondered briefly if anyone would notice if she had yet another takeaway pizza in her office for dinner. She'd become something of a regular at the Domino's across the road from the hospital. Charles had thought it was hilarious when she told him. She couldn't find it in herself to really care about it. It seemed ridiculous to keep cooking just for herself.

She skimmed through a couple of emails, then flicked back over to her calendar. Three weeks away. The date Charles was due back- it was marked in her calendar and she sometimes found herself sitting there staring at it, willing it to come sooner. She'd been able to speak to him on the phone a couple of times at least, but it wasn't the same. She'd booked a week off work for when he got back on the pretence that they might do something. She highly suspected that the only thing they'd be doing was laying around the house in their pyjamas just enjoying being back together and she was more than okay with that. But it did bring her attention back to the fact that if she didn't get some of her work done she wasn't going to be able to take the week of to spend with him.

She fished her phone out of her bag to turn it off silent now she'd finally escaped from one of the most tedious meetings she'd ever been too. She frowned at the screen as she saw she'd got three missed calls from Georgie. She hit the button to call her back straight away, not bothering to listen to the voicemails she'd left. As the phone rang and she waited for Georgie to answer she was running through potential scenarios in her head about what might be wrong this time.

After they'd relocated for her new job they'd ended up living not that far away from Georgie and Elvis, just on the outskirts of Manchester. The new proximity had meant Molly had been on the receiving end of more than a few panicked phone calls from Georgie. She didn't mind, even if a couple of them had been in the middle of the night. Elvis had been deployed again a couple of months after Charles, leaving Georgie at home with their six month old daughter which made Molly her first port of call a lot of the time.

"Oh thank god." Georgie breathed as she answered the phone. She sounded out of breath and Molly wondered for a moment what she'd been doing.

"Sorry, I've been a meeting most of the day. Is everything okay?" Molly asked.

Georgie was silent for a moment. "No." She whispered, her voice cracking. "It's Elvis." Molly felt her heart sink as she listened to the muffled sobbing on the other end of the phone.

"Georgie?" Molly was already out of her seat, rummaging in her bag for her car keys. She wedged her feet back into her heels and grabbed the rest of her stuff. "Are you at home? I can be there in fifteen minutes." She could hear the baby crying in the background over the sound of Georgie's muffled sobs.

"Please." Georgie choked out. "I'm sorry, I didn't know who else to call and…"

"It's okay." Molly reassured. "I'm on my way, take a couple of deep breaths. Put the kettle on and by the time you've done it I'll be there- okay?"

"Okay." Georgie replied weakly, hanging up the phone.

Molly ran down the corridor towards the car park- well as fast as her heels would allow anyway. In reality it was more of an awkward and uncomfortable jog. She skidded to an abrupt halt as she reached the nurses station. "I've got to go, family emergency. I don't know if I'll be back. Does anyone need anything before I go?" She asked, looking at the three junior doctors sitting at the desk. They all shook their heads and she carried on towards the exit. "Good, you can call me if you need me but Rob is in his office!" She shouted back over her shoulder.

* * *

She was five minutes away from Georgie's house when the phone rang, the noise filling the car and making her jump. She glanced at the screen in the middle and realised it was Charles. Usually she'd be excited to talk to him but it really wasn't good timing. What was she supposed to say to him? She didn't want to lie to him about his friend be she also hadn't got any information to tell him. At the moment she had no way of knowing whether Elvis had stubbed his toe or he was….. She stopped herself, not even wanting to think about it.

"Hey." She forced a smile onto her face as she answered the phone, he'd always been good at knowing when something was wrong. She highly doubted he needed something else to worry about while he was out there. Maybe she could get away without telling him.

"Hi." His voice filled the car and a wave of sadness hit her. God she missed him. "Sorry, I know you're probably at work. I was going to call later but… well… things happen." His voice faltered slightly and her stomach dropped.

"Charles- is everything okay?" She spotted a layby just up in front, before the turning to Georgie's road and pulled in so she could talk to him for a moment before she went in.

There was a long pause on the end of the phone. "I'm okay… It's um… It's Elvis Molly."

It took a moment to sink in. "You're there with him?" She hadn't really known where Charles was. They'd originally been sent out to Nepal for disaster relief, but the last time she'd skyped him he'd been somewhere different. A change of plans he'd said, but he hadn't been able to tell her where he was. Elvis hadn't said where he was going either, but that was much more normal for him. It had never occurred to her that they might both be in the same place.

"I am." He said quietly. "Well, I was."

She didn't need to see his face to know it wasn't good. "Georgie called me in a state- what's happened?" Her stomach churned, the anxiety taking over. She wasn't sure she wanted to know- what was she supposed to say to Georgie if it was really bad? It would've been easier to play it down if she'd been clueless.

"It's bad Molly. Really bad." His voice was small and childlike, she got the impression he was barely holding it together. She wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and comfort him. The harsh reality of the situation was that he was almost certainly thousands of miles away and there was nothing she could do.

"Is he….?" She couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud. It made her feel physically sick.

"No. Well, as far as I know. It's not good Molly." Charles sighed.

"Are you allowed to tell me what happened?" She asked.

"We um…. Well I suppose it doesn't really matter why. He was on the roof of a four-storey building and there was an explosion. I was at the bottom and I saw him fall Mol… Is there any way he can survive something like this?"

She didn't know what to say to him. She could picture it in her head with an alarming clarity. She also knew all too well the kinds of injuries the fall alone could cause, never mind the explosion. "It's possible." She said slowly, she didn't want to give him false hope that Elvis was going to get up and walk it off but she also didn't want to completely crush any little bit of hope he'd got left. "Are they bringing him home?"

"Yeah." Charles said quietly. "He should be there in a few hours."

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked again.

"I um… I don't really know." He mumbled. "It all feels a bit surreal."

"That'll be the shock." She said softly. "I need to go, I promised Georgie I wouldn't be long." She didn't want to hang up on him but she knew he wouldn't be able to spare long to talk to her anyway. There was something she could do try and help Georgie at least. There wasn't much she could do to comfort Charles other than sit on the phone with him.

"I know." He sounded lost and she could feel the tears welling in her eyes. She tried to remember that he'd be home soon and she'd be able to hug him. Only a few more days.

"I'll call you if I hear anything?" She offered.

"Please." He nodded. "I'll do the same if I hear anything from this end. Give my love to Georgie?"

"I will." She whispered. "I love you."

There was a pause and she could hear voice in the background talking to him. "I know. I love you too." And then the phone line went dead as he hung up. She was left sitting there in the layby fighting her tears as she tried to pull herself together enough to go and try to convince Georgie everything was going to be okay.

* * *

She let herself into Georgie's house in the end. She'd knocked twice and got nothing in response. "Hello?" She called, kicking her shoes off and dropping her bag on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. She turned to the left, going through the living room to get to the kitchen.

Georgie was standing in the kitchen, two cups of tea brewing on the kitchen counter beside her. Her daughter was in her arms, fast asleep. "Sorry, I didn't hear you knocking." She mumbled, looking up at Molly with a tearstained face.

"It's okay." Molly smiled. "Why don't I go and put her in her cot and then we'll sit and drink these?" She suggested.

Georgie didn't move so she took it as a yes, slipping her arms under the baby and carefully taking her from Georgie so she didn't wake her. "Hey Lauren… How's my favourite Goddaughter?" She whispered, smiling down at her. She made her way carefully up the stairs, turning left at the top and going through the door into the nursery. She gently laid Lauren down in her cot, freezing for a heartstopping moment as she stirred slightly in her sleep and she thought she'd woken her up. Much to her relief she didn't wake up.

She stood there for a moment watching her Goddaughter sleep, saying a silent prayer that Elvis was going to make it back to see her grow up. She'd been fairly sure he was going to explode with excitement when he'd told her and Charles that Georgie was pregnant. She could remember sitting on the floor of the nursery more or less exactly where she was standing, laughing at Charles and Elvis trying to put together the IKEA cot that he'd brought to surprise Georgie. It had taken them an embarrassing amount of time to figure out how to put it together but Elvis had been so happy when they'd finally managed it. She blinked back another tear that threatened to fall as she thought about the fact he might not be there to spoil her rotten for her first Christmas as he'd promised he would.

With one last look at the sleeping baby she slipped out of the room and back down the stairs to find Georgie. She was sitting on the sofa holding a cup of tea. Molly sat down next to her and picked up the other mug that was sitting on the coffee table.

Georgie looked at her with an expression that could only be described as hopeless. "I can't do this on my own." She whispered. "Why did he have to go out there? This was supposed to be exciting, the three of us finally a family and now…."

"Don't go jumping to any conclusions just yet." Molly suggested, squeezing her friends arm. "One step at a time. What did they say?"

Georgie rolled her eyes. "Same thing they always say. There'd been an incident and they were flying him home. I just…. This is Elvis we're talking about Molly, you just know he's going to have got himself involved in something stupid. It's what he does. He's not sensible like Charles."

Molly grimaced. "I spoke to Charles on my way over here." She admitted. She wasn't going to be able to keep it from Georgie long enough to find out what happened. She felt too guilty about lying to her.

"He's due home soon isn't he?" Georgie mumbled, sipping at her tea.

"Yeah." Molly nodded. "But that wasn't why he called. He was on the operation with Elvis, Georgie."

She heard Georgie's sharp intake of breath. "Did he say what happened?" Her stomach flipped and she wasn't really sure she actually wanted Molly to tell her the answer. She couldn't bear the not knowing, but she also wasn't sure she wanted to hear the news that was almost certainly coming.

"He didn't say much." Molly said slowly, trying to work out how to word it to try and stop Georgie freaking out more than she already was. "I don't know all the in's and out's of it. There was some kind of explosion from what Charles said. Elvis fell from a couple of floors up."

A strangled sob escaped Georgie. "Oh god. He's dead isn't he?"

"I don't know." Molly answered honestly. "Charles said he was stable when they airlifted him out. That's all I know." She didn't want to go into detail of all of the kinds of injuries he could have sustained from a fall like that. There were so many different ways it could kill him she wished she could stop herself thinking about it all. Georgie went quiet and Molly suspected she was thinking along the same lines- she'd been a medic long enough to know the kind of damage something like that could do. Even if he did survive it there was no guarantee he'd ever be the Elvis they knew and loved again.

"What do we do?" Georgie asked quietly.

"We wait." Molly said simply, putting an arm around her friend. "It's all we can do for now."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

She'd thought it took a long time for the phone call to come to say Elvis had arrived at the hospital, the drive to Birmingham seemed to take even longer. Georgie's Mum had come over and picked Lauren up so it was just the two of them sitting in the car in silence. The occasional muffled sob escaped Georgie the nearer they got to the hospital but she'd barely said a word.

As Molly parked the car outside the hospital entrance Georgie finally turned to look at her. "I really don't think I can do this Molly."

"You can." Molly squeezed her friends arm reassuringly. "We don't know anything yet. Let's just go and see what the doctors have got to say. One step at a time, okay?"

"I just…. I spent all that time being angry and hating him for what he did and now…." Georgie mumbled. "I wasted all that time."

"Come on." Molly opened the door and climbed out of the car. "Sitting here wondering isn't going to do you any good. Let's just go and find out what's happened first and then we'll take it from there."

The hospital seemed quiet compared to the chaos she was used to in A&E. The click of her heels seemed to echo off the walls as they wound their way through the hospital to the ward they'd been told Elvis was on.

"Mrs Harte?" Georgie looked at the nurse standing in front of them in surprise. It was one of the few times anyone had called her that since they'd been married. It sounded strange still.

"Yes." She breathed.

"Why don't you come and sit down? The doctor will be with you soon." The nurse suggested, pointing to a small room behind them.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Georgie choked out. Her whole body seemed to sag and Molly grabbed her elbow, uncertain for a moment whether she might fall.

"No." The nurse said softly. "They managed to stabilise him to fly him back, the doctors are with him now. That's all I know. Come and sit down and I'll get you a cup of tea while you wait for the doctor."

"Thank you." Molly said quietly, guiding Georgie into the waiting room. "Breathe Georgie." She reminded, looking at her friend as she perched on the edge of the chair.

"What does that mean- they managed to stabilise him?" Georgie asked, her voice trembling as she looked up at Molly. "Is he going to be okay?"

Molly sat down beside her, drawing in a deep breath as she thought for a second. "It means what she said." She said slowly. "They managed to get him stable enough to get him here at least. I'm sure the doctor will be able to tell us more in a little while."

Georgie nodded, chewing on the bottom lip. "Okay."

They sat in that little room and waited and waited. Georgie picked at the last remnants of her nail varnish, Molly paced and the two of them both worried silently about what was to come. Georgie pulled out her phone and stared at the photo on the screen. It had been taken maybe a day or two before Elvis had been deployed, he was laying in their bed holding Lauren when she'd got out of the shower and she'd snapped the photo. He looked so happy and she could remember vividly him whispering to Lauren that she wasn't allowed to grow up too much while he was gone because he didn't want to miss everything. Her heart was heavy as she wondered if he'd ever get to see her grow up at all now.

Molly froze midway across the room as the door opened and the doctor walked in. "Mrs Harte? I'm Dr Alexander."

Molly quickly shook her head. "Molly James, I'm a family friend. This is Georgie." She turned and glanced at Georgie who was staring wide eyed at the man standing in front of them.

"How is he?" She whispered, getting somewhat unsteadily to her feet.

"Why don't we all sit down?" He suggested, sitting down opposite Georgie. Molly followed suit and sat down beside her friend. The look on the doctors face was making her nervous, she knew that look. She'd worn it many times when she'd been trying to work out how to destroy someone's entire world.

"Captain Harte-" He started.

"Elvis, please." Georgie cut in.

He smiled sympathetically. "Sorry, Elvis." He nodded. "He's stable for the moment, there's a lot of swelling on the brain and he is heavily sedated. His left leg is broken, we'll be taking him into surgery to pin it once he's stable and he does have quite a few broken ribs. There's some burns too, but they're surprisingly not as severe as I thought they might be given the nature of the injury."

Georgie looked over at Molly. "What does that mean?"

Molly looked back to Dr Alexander for confirmation. "It means he was lucky, really lucky Georgie… But he's not out of the woods."

"Exactly that." Dr Alexander agreed. "It's difficult to know what kind of damage there will be when he wakes up… There is also the chance that he may not regain consciousness. I'm hopeful, the fact that he's made it this far is a good sign- but I don't want to make you any promises. There's a long way to go."

Georgie was silent for a long moment, processing what had been said. "Can I see him?"

"Of course." Dr Alexander nodded, getting to his feet. "I'll take you to him, just prepare yourself. He's not looking his best at the moment."

Rather unexpectedly Georgie laughed. "Don't let him hear you say that."

Molly laughed quietly. "No, he'd be horrified." She agreed. "Come on.." She stood up and held a hand out to Georgie, the two of them following the doctor down the hallway to Elvis' room.

* * *

To say he wasn't looking his best was probably an understatement. Someone had obviously cleaned him up, or at least done their best because the majority of the dust and blood was gone. It was just the odd bit here and there but it was enough for Molly's mind to fill in the blanks of how she imagined he'd looked when Charles had seen him. She could see the dressings on some of the burns to his chest, just about covered by the blankets pulled up around him. His face was covered in cuts and bruises, a neat row of stitches ran along his hairline on the right hand side. His leg was in a temporary cast and propped up on a pillow. She didn't even like to think about all the injuries that they couldn't see.

Georgie's strangled sob brought Molly back into the room. She put a comforting hand on her friends shoulder, gently guiding her into the chair that had been pulled up beside the bed. "Oh god Molly." She choked out, her hand tentatively reaching out to touch his.

"It's okay Georgie, you're not going to hurt him." Molly reassured. "Talk to him, be here with him."

Georgie nodded, her hand linking with his. She noticed for a moment that his wedding ring was gone. She wondered if they'd cut it off or it had been lost. In the grand scheme of things it didn't really matter she supposed.

Molly stood, her hand still on Georgie's shoulder, watching the monitors that surrounded Elvis. She watched each slow rise and fall of his chest, willing him to be okay. The alternative didn't even bear thinking about.

"You promised me you'd be careful." Georgie whispered. "You promised I wouldn't have to raise our daughter on my own. I swear to god Elvis, if you break that promise I'll…." She glanced up at Molly as though she'd suddenly remembered she was there.

"I second what she said Elvis." Molly smiled at Georgie. "And I suspect there's one hell of a lecture coming from Charles when he gets back so you'd better rest while you can."

Georgie laughed quietly. "There's something for us all to look forward to."

Molly squeezed her shoulder. "Speaking of, I'm going to try and call my husband and let him know what's going on. Are you going to be okay on your own for a bit?"

Georgie nodded, glancing back at Elvis. "Can you thank Charles for me?"

"I will." Molly nodded, ducking out of the room. She could just hear Georgie whispering to Elvis as she closed the door behind her, walking off down the hallway to find somewhere quiet she could try and call Charles.

She found a spot in the stairwell in the end, sitting down on the stairs to rest her aching feet. She called his number and waited as it rang and rang, preparing herself to leave a message. Her heart sank at the thought of not getting to speak to him, even though she hadn't really been expecting him to answer.

"Molly?" There was a breathless voice on the other end of the phone.

"You answered." She smiled.

"What did you expect to happen? You rang me." He chuckled. A new wave of homesickness hit him hearing her voice. "How is he?"

"Stable." She said quietly. "He's a bit of a state, but all things considered he came off pretty lightly. Just got to wait and see now. Georgie's in with him."

Charles' sigh of relief was audible. "I honestly thought he was dead Molly."

"I know. I could hear it in your voice earlier." She answered. "I just… I'll say the same thing I said to Georgie- don't get ahead of yourself. There's a long way to go."

"I know." His voice was quiet on the end of the phone. "I miss you."

She could feel her eyes filling with tears and she blinked them back furiously. "I know. I miss you too."

"I wish I was there, I feel so useless here. Give my love to Lane?"

"I will." Molly nodded. "It's just a few more weeks, you'll be back before you know it. Then you can go back to complaining my snoring is keeping you up at night."

He laughed quietly. "I should go I guess." He said reluctantly.

She was quiet for a moment, just listening to the sound of him breathing on the end of the phone. She suddenly felt every single one of the thousands of miles between them. "I know." She sighed. "Me too."

"I'll try and call you tomorrow?" He suggested. "I don't know what'll be happening here but…"

"I know." She smiled. "It's okay. If you can then you can… I'm working tomorrow anyway."

"I hope you're not meaning you're going to sit on the floor in your office on your own eating pizza again." He joked.

"Maybe." She laughed. "I'd probably be there now if Elvis hadn't decided to get himself blown off the top of a building."

"Typical Elvis, has to make everything about him." His laughter died down. "Look after him for me Molly?"

"I will." She whispered. "Come on, you'd better go."

"Yeah." He struggled to stifle a yawn. "I love you."

"Love you too." She smiled, blinking back a tear as she hung up the phone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

They fell into something of a routine over the next week. Between work and going to the hospital with Georgie, Molly had begun to feel like some kind of sleep deprived zombie. The thing that was keeping her sane was the fact that the day Charles was due home was creeping ever closer.

Elvis was slowly starting to improve, each time they visited he looked slightly more like himself and there was less and less equipment surrounding him. He was breathing on his own and they'd started to wean down the sedation. Georgie had been more or less camped out by his bedside, only really returning home to sleep and see her daughter. She'd felt guilty to begin with, being pulled in two directions by her daughter and her husband. It had taken Molly and Georgie's Mum a while to convince her it didn't make her a bad parent that she wanted to be there when Elvis woke up. Now she just had a quiet air of determination about her that things would get better and she would get her Elvis back. Molly was torn between trying to remind her not to get her hopes up and not wanting to crush her hopes that things might get back to normal.

She'd said she wasn't going to go to the hospital with Georgie that night- she needed to go home and get some sleep or she was never going to make it through the rest of the week. Despite her best intentions she'd still been sat at her desk at gone nine o'clock when Charles had Skyped her.

"Hi." She grinned into the camera. "I wasn't expecting to hear from you today." Seeing him sitting there somehow made her miss him even more.

"I was up early, I thought you'd be at home." He raised an eyebrow. "Are you on nights or just still at work?"

"Just still at work." She yawned. "I was trying to catch up but it's not working."

"You look tired." He said softly.

"How bloody charming!" She laughed. "I'm okay. Just been busy here with all this extra stuff I've taken on and then backwards and forwards to the hospital with Georgie…. Who needs sleep anyway right?"

He frowned. "You need to look after yourself. You're no good to anyone in the bed next to Elvis."

"Yeah, yeah." She dismissed. "Where are you anyway? It's been awhile since you've been able to skype."

He pulled a face and she knew what it meant- he couldn't tell her. Her stomach twisted with anxiety. For some reason it always felt so much worse when she didn't know where he was. "I should still be home as planned." He said softly.

"Good. I miss you."

"I know. I miss you too." He glanced at something off the screen for a moment. "Promise me you'll look after yourself?"

"I will. I'm going home in a minute. Promise." She nodded.

"Good."

"You have to look after yourself too. Promise you'll come back to me in one piece?" She whispered.

"I will." He nodded. "How's Elvis?"

"They're weaning the sedation down. Hopefully he'll be awake soon and then we'll know what we're dealing with I guess." It was giving her a headache just thinking about it.

Charles nodded slowly. "You'll let me know, if anything happens? I don't know if you'll be able to get hold of me for a few days now but I'll try."

Her stomach flipped again. "Please be careful." She'd always been acutely aware of how dangerous his job was, there was constant reminders everywhere she looked. What had happened to Elvis was so close to home though it made it even more real. She was more anxious now than when he'd gone on that first tour.

"Don't worry about me Dawsey." He laughed, winking at her.

"Oi… that's Dr James to you." She scolded, holding up her ID badge to the camera. "See, it's official and everything now."

"It's too late to change my mind then?" He laughed. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding." He held up his hands in mock surrender.

"You'd better be. I've not spent all these months sitting around waiting for you to come back just to hear you've changed your mind."

"It's just a few more days." He said softly. "And right now you look like you need to go and get some sleep."

She struggled to suppress another yawn. "Yes Sir." She mumbled with a mock salute. "Love you."

"I love you Mrs James."

* * *

It wasn't until she woke up without a clue where she was for a moment that she'd realised she'd fallen asleep on the sofa. The daylight streaming in through the windows caused a brief moment of panic that she'd overslept and was going to be late for work. Then she realised she had the day off and allows herself to relax back against the sofa.

Glancing at the clock she realised it was actually nearly lunch time and she'd slept for the best part of twelve hours- not that she felt any less tired for it. She twisted her neck trying to stretch out the knots cause by a night laying in a weird position on the sofa. Her stomach growled and she was momentarily torn between trying to back to sleep and getting up to eat something.

In the end food won, and after she'd eaten her breakfast she had a shower and much to her relief started to feel much more human. She was just contemplating what she was going to do with her day when the doorbell rang. She struggled into her jeans, the fact her legs were still damp meaning it was no easy task to get them on, running down the stairs to see who it was.

When she pulled the door open she'd been expecting a courier delivering some of the new clothes she'd ordered for work. Instead Georgie stood there, clutching Lauren to her chest. Her eyes were wide and Molly couldn't work out if it was excitement or fear.

"Is everything okay?" She asked warily, stepping to the side to let Georgie in. She reached out and took her god daughter from her before she shut the door. "Hi you." She grinned down at the baby.

"He's awake Molly." Georgie breathed. "They phoned me this morning."

"That's great news…. isn't it?"

Georgie nodded, chewing on her lip. "I think so. I don't know? I was wondering if you'd come with me to see him? I'm sorry I know it's your day off, but Mum isn't well and…."

"It's fine." Molly smiled. "Really. Of course I'll come with you. Let me just get my bag."

* * *

They made their way through the hospital on autopilot, Molly carrying the sleeping baby. They'd been there so often over the last couple of weeks Molly was fairly certain that she could've made her way through there blindfolded and still ended up in the right place. Georgie had grown quiet as they got closer and Molly could see the anxiety etched on her face. She didn't say anything- there wasn't really anything she could say. Elvis might be awake but she'd got as much of an idea about what they were walking into as Georgie did.

When they eventually reached his room he was asleep and Molly saw Georgie visibly deflate as she stood there in the doorway and looked at her husband. He looked more or less exactly the same as he had done when Molly had seen him two days earlier, the only real difference was that the bruising on his face was starting to turn a yellowish colour. Georgie glanced back at Molly before taking a hesitant step forward into the room. Molly followed her in and closed the door behind them.

"Hi." Came the raspy greeting they'd been waiting for. When Molly turned around again Elvis was laying there watching Georgie who seemed to be rooted to the spot standing at the bottom of the bed.

"Oh my god." She mumbled, the tears already flowing freely down her cheeks. "You're here." She bolted around to the side of the bed and hugged him without a second thought.

Molly didn't miss the way Elvis' face pinched in pain. "Careful Georgie." Molly said softly. "Let's not forget about the part where he fell off a building."

Elvis shot a grateful smile at Molly as Georgie released him. "Sorry." Georgie said quickly, looking guiltily between Molly and Elvis. "I just can't believe you're here."

"I've been here a while according to the doctor." Elvis coughed. Molly's frown deepened, watching the way he grimaced when he thought no one was looking.

"You have… but you know what I meant. I've missed you." Georgie grinned at him, sitting on the edge of the bed. She took her hand in his, smiling as he linked his fingers with hers.

"I know. I've missed you too." Elvis smiled at her. His eyes flickered over to Molly. "She's so big."

"I sincerely hope you're talking about your daughter and not me Elvis!" Molly rolled her eyes at him, walking around to the otherside of the bed so he could see his daughter.

Elvis laughed quietly. "I don't think I've got it in me to do witty today Molly."

"I think you're entitled." Molly smiled, handing Lauren back to Georgie. "I'll give you guys a minute. I need to go and call Charles to tell him you're back with us."

"Is Charlie home?" Elvis frowned. She could see him trying to do the maths in his head to work out what date it was.

She shook her head. "No, not yet. Soon though."

Elvis nodded, sagging back against the pillows. Molly lingered for a second longer then ducked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

She wandered off to the same stairwell she'd sat in that first time to call him, sitting down on the step again. The phone rang and rang, she found herself almost holding her breath as she waited for him to answer.

"Hi you've reached Charles James. I can't take your call right now, please leave a message."

She felt a pang of sadness as she heard his all too familiar voicemail message. "Hi… um.. It's me…" She mumbled. "I guess you're doing whatever, you did say I might not be able to get hold of you. I just wanted to tell you Elvis is awake. I'm at the hospital with Georgie at the minute. He seems okay but I haven't spoken to the doctor yet to know for sure…. Anyway, I guess I'll stop rambling. Stay safe, I'll speak to you soon. I love you."

She sat there and stared at her phone for a moment after she hung up, blinking back the tears that welled in her eyes. It always felt worse somehow when she left him a message. She wasn't sure why- maybe it was not being able to hear his voice and know that he was okay? She just had to keep reminding herself it was only just over two weeks until he'd be back there with her. She'd got this far, she could get through another couple of weeks.

When she got back to Elvis' room Georgie was nowhere to be seen and she did a double take. She'd imagined anyone would have a hard time trying to pry her away from her husband, especially now he was awake again.

"Did you speak to him?" Elvis croaked, blinking at her sleepily as she stood in the doorway.

Molly shook her head. "Left him a message. Where's Georgie?"

"Changing Lauren." He sighed. "I guess it'll be awhile before I'm going to be any help."

Molly smiled sympathetically, walking around the bed to sit in the chair beside him. "How are you really feeling?"

"Like I got blown off the top of a roof?" He suggested.

"Funny that." She laughed quietly. "You know, you don't have to pretend you're okay and suffer through it. I saw your face earlier when Georgie hugged you." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I know." He mumbled. "I just want to go home."

"Well, you're not going to get there any quicker by laying here in pain are you?"

"Anyone would think you knew what you're talking about with all this stuff." He grumbled.

"Yeah, funny that." She smirked.

He rolled his eyes, shifting slightly to try and get more comfortable and cringing as the pain shot through his ribs. "Point taken." He sighed as she gave him a knowing look. "Was it… was it as bad as I think it was?" He asked hesitantly.

Molly nodded slowly. "Well, I mean I didn't see what happened. I've heard about it from Charles though… and I've spoken to your doctor. You're a very, very lucky man Elvis."

He was quiet for a moment, processing what had been said. She could see he was getting tired, battling to keep his eyes open. "Oh." He whispered.

She squeezed his hand gently. "I'm going to find Georgie quickly so she can say goodbye and then we're going to go so you can get some rest. Doctors orders."

"My actual doctors orders or yours?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Both." She laughed, getting up. "I'm going to find the nurse for you as well and tell her you'd like some more painkillers."

She was waiting for a sarcastic response but it never came, instead he sunk back against the pillows. "Thanks Mol."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Shit." She cursed as she ran across the car park, almost tripping over as her toe caught an uneven bit of ground. Her stethoscope swung from her neck, almost hitting her in the face. She'd been looking forward to this day for months, dreaming about what it would be like when she finally got to go and pick Charles up. Then it had promptly turned into an absolute nightmare.

Half of the department had phoned in sick, or at least that was what it had felt like. She'd been in bed half asleep when they'd phoned and pleaded with her to come in. She'd given in and agreed to go in, just for a few hours, to help out. Almost six hours later she'd ended up running out of the building and driving like a mad woman to try and get to Charles on time. She was still wearing the scrubs she'd changed into after she got herself covered in blood the first time around and she hadn't had a chance to shower. Not quite the romantic reunion she'd had in mind.

She skidded into the terminal just in time to see him walk through, a breathtaking smile crossing his face as he spotted her standing there. When he reached her he wrapped her up in a bear hug, spinning her round for a second before planting a kiss on her lips. She was vaguely aware of a round of wolf whistles from two section in the background and she could feel the smile on his lips as they pressed against hers.

"God I've missed you." He breathed when he finally pulled away.

"Ditto." She laughed.

"Ditto?" He rolled his eyes. "You've had six months to come up with something and that's the best you can do?"

She rested head head against his chest, peering up at him and just drinking in the fact he was finally there with her. "A couple of hours ago I wasn't sure I was even going to make it here to pick you up. You should be grateful you're getting a ditto and not having to walk home!"

"I am." He smiled, kissing her forehead.

"What have you done to your face?" She frowned, pulling away so she could get a better look at him. She'd been so excited to see him she hadn't even noticed to start with but looking now she could see a dark bruise forming under his left eye, his lip split and slightly swollen.

"It's fine, nothing for you to worry about." He smiled.

She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Would he ever learn that just telling her it was nothing to worry about wasn't going to be enough to stop her worrying?

"There's my favourite doctor!" She didn't get to answer as Fingers suddenly arrived next to them, scooping her up as Charles had done earlier and swinging her around. She laughed as he put her back down, the rest of two section piled in.

"Right you lot!" Charles' voice cut through the excited chatter, he sounded stern but she could see him trying not to laugh as they passed her around hugging her. "Brains- put my wife down!"

Brains quickly released her, Molly laughed as she straightened her scrubs up. She patted her neck realising something was missing. "Which one of you stole my stethoscope?" She sighed. Some things never changed- they were still like a bunch of children all these years later.

Fingers held it up, looking guilty as she took it off him. "I reckon I could be a doctor… y'know… if I tried."

Everyone laughed and he pretended to be offended. Charles rolled his eyes. "Go home you lot… please." He reached out and wrapped his arm tightly around Molly's waist and pulled her towards him. "Come on, let's go home. I want to go to bed." He muttered to Molly, not quite quietly enough to avoid two section overhearing.

The chorus of wolf whistles and cheers was almost deafening. Charles had flushed bright red as they headed for the door and Molly couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't mean it like that… but actually…." he murmured, his voice laced with promise.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. "Come on then, let's get home." She smiled, leaning into him as they headed for the car.

* * *

"God I've missed you." He murmured, his lips pressed to her forehead as they laid in bed, wrapped around each other like a vine. True to his word they had gone more or less straight to bed when they'd got home and hadn't moved since.

She stretched out, pulling herself closer to him. "It's been a really long six months."

"You look tired." He said softly, brushing the hair away from her face.

She nodded, yawning. "I've been busy."

"How is work? Is it okay, are you enjoying it?" It had been bad timing really, they'd moved and she'd started her new job and then he'd gone in the space of a few weeks. He'd been feeling guilty about it every time he spoke to her.

"Yeah." Her voice was muffled against his chest. "It's been good, it's busy and with everything that's happened the last couple of weeks I feel like I haven't had a second to myself."

He was quiet for a moment. "I should go and see Elvis really, shouldn't I?"

Her arms tightened around him. "Not tonight. He's not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Agreed." Charles nodded, he was exhausted. He wasn't even sure what time zone his body was on any more and he knew it wasn't going to be long before he was asleep. As hard as he tried to stay awake because he wanted to just enjoy being there with Molly he could only fight his drooping eyelids for so long.

"Anyway." She shifted so she could look at him, almost lying on top of him. "You seem to be asking me a lot of questions and not telling me much about what you've been up to."

He was quiet for a moment, trying to work out what he could actually tell her. "It was…. It was fine." He sighed.

"But?" She could hear it in his voice that there was a but coming.

"I missed you." He said quietly. "And then I just kept thinking about everything that happened last time… then there was Elvis and I…. I don't know. I think I'm just tired."

She looked at him questioningly for a moment, then decided to leave it be- for the moment at least. He'd talk when he was ready, she'd just enjoy being back with him for now. "Let's get some sleep." She smiled. "We can go and see Elvis tomorrow?"

"Yeah." He yawned, reaching over to turn off the lamp beside the bed. "Love you."

"I love you." She sighed, content just to be back in his arms.

There was a long silence and she was almost certain he had fallen asleep. "I thought he was dead." He whispered, she wondered for a second if he knew she was still awake. "I watched him fall and it was like everything just stopped… when he landed it just… I knew he was going to be dead." His voice was thick with emotion.

"But he's not." She reminded him gently. "We'll go and see him tomorrow and you'll see he's the same old irritating Elvis he was when he left- just with a few more broken bones."

He didn't say anything, just holding her ever so slightly tighter for a moment before they both eventually fell asleep.

* * *

Charles was up at four in the morning, a strange combination of jet lag and the early night they'd had meaning he knew the second he opened his eyes he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep again. Molly on the other hand, was dead to the world. Even when he'd had to roll her off him so he could get up she hadn't so much as stirred. He wondered briefly how little sleep she'd actually been getting while he'd been away. He felt the familiar twinge of guilt that he hadn't been there with her to remind her not to overwork herself- he knew she'd been determined to make a good impression in her new job.

He was sitting downstairs, staring at the news but not really taking it in when Molly eventually got up. She stood in the doorway, bleary eyed and looking at him in confusion for a moment before walking across the room and joining him on the sofa. His arms wrapped around her.

"You're up early." She commented.

"I'm not sure what time zone I'm in." He sighed. No matter how many times he did it there was still that weird feeling that came with being home again, as much as he'd missed it. He'd been constantly busy for six months, full of purpose and an endless list of things he needed to do. To come home and suddenly have nothing to do was just…. odd.

She ran her hand gently down the side of his face, settling against his cheek. "I'll go and get ready and then we can go and see Elvis?" She suggested. "I did text Georgie to say we'd drop in at some point today."

He nodded. "Is it bad I kind of what to ask him what the hell he was thinking going up there in the first place?"

She laughed. "I told him to expect a lecture when you got back."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Go and get ready."

* * *

Much to her surprise Elvis was looking a lot brighter when they arrived at the hospital a few hours later. Charles had been apprehensive on the way there, she'd seen the anxiety on his face although he hadn't said anything. She could only imagine it was to do with the fact the last time he'd seen Elvis he'd looked like he wasn't going to make it. Sitting up in the bed now though, it was hard to imagine what had happened had actually been that bad.

"Charlie!" Elvis grinned as they walked in. "It's good to see you… Hi Molly."

"How are you feeling?" She asked, sitting down on the chair beside the bed. Charles stood at the foot of the bed, staring at Elvis as though he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"I'm great, never been better." Elvis laughed. "Ready to go home!"

"You what?" Charles frowned. "You nearly died!"

"Emphasis on the nearly part, look at me. I'm fine!" Elvis rolled his eyes at him. "You're in a worse state than me!"

Charles' hand wandered up to the yellowing bruise on his face for a moment, as though he'd forgotten it was there. "I thought you were dead mate… I mean really this time." He sighed, sitting down next to Molly.

Elvis was suddenly serious. "Me too."

"What were you doing? You just sort of disappeared and then the next thing I knew there was this huge explosion and you were falling off the roof."

Elvis grimaced, it was the first time he'd heard the details of what had happened from someone who'd actually been there and seen in happen. "I can remember going up there to clear the roof and then seeing it… in hindsight it might've been better to move away from the bomb while I was working out what to do about it."

"Oh really, you think?" Molly commented sarcastically. "You two need to start being more sensible or you're going to send me into an early grave."

Charles reached out and squeezed her thigh gently. "It's okay, we're both home and in one piece."

 _For now._ She added in her head, but she didn't say it out loud. Instead she sat there as the two of them chatted about the rest of the tour, the things that had happened after Elvis' departure and what they'd both been doing before they'd ended up in the same place. She tuned most of it out. She'd often thought she was probably better off not knowing the half of it, it made it a lot easier to sleep at night while he was away if she didn't allow herself to think too much about where he might be and what he might be doing.

They'd been there about an hour when Georgie arrived, looking rather flustered as she rushed into the room struggling to hold Lauren's car seat. "Sorry, Mum's not well and I'd already driven over there to drop Lauren off and then I got stuck and traffic and she wouldn't stop crying…." She looked up and spotted Molly and Charles. "Oh hi, sorry… Welcome back Charles."

"Good to see you Lane." He smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Georgie asked, putting the car seat down on the floor carefully and turning around to kiss Elvis softly.

"Ready to go home?" He asked, looking at Molly hopefully.

"I don't know what you're looking at me for, I'm not your doctor thank god." She laughed.

"Ouch." He pretended to be offended. "What do you think though?"

Charles and Georgie both turned to look at her. "I think that you would probably recover just as well at home as you would here…. But it's not up to me, you need to talk to your actual doctors."

He turned and grinned at Georgie. She returned the smile but as Molly watched her she could see quite how tired her friend was.

"I'll tell you what.." Molly suggested, getting up from the chair. "We need to get going, why don't we take Lauren back with us? Give you some time to talk without having to worry about her."

Georgie shook her head. "I can't. Charles has just got back and you-"

"Lane." Charles cut in, standing up beside Molly. "We insist, really. We haven't got anything planned for today."

Georgie hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between her daughter and her husband. Elvis nodded slightly in encouragement. "You two are lifesavers." She breathed. "Everything you need is in the bag. I won't be too late, I can come and pick her up on the way home?"

"It's okay, you take your time." Molly smiled, Charles nodding. "We'll see you soon Elvis."

"When I finally get to go home." He grumbled.

* * *

"I remember when Sam was this small." Charles sighed, the two of them sitting on the sofa watching Lauren as she slept. "I seems ridiculous that he's so grown up now."

"Have you spoken to him much since you've been back?" Molly asked softly.

He shook his head. "I got about five minutes of conversation out of him earlier, but you know what he's like." He smiled sadly.

"We could go down and visit him? I've got plenty more leave I can take." She suggested. It was something of a sore subject. Rebecca had moved to Cornwall with her new boyfriend and taken Sam with her. Charles hadn't said anything, because at the end of the day as long as Sam was happy it didn't matter, but it had made it a lot harder for him to get to actually get to see his son.

"I'd like that." He smiled. "I could do with a holiday."

"Me too." She yawned.

"It's settled then." He smiled. "I'll have a look online later, find us somewhere to stay."

They sat there quietly for a little while, each lost in their own thoughts. Then his stomach rumbled loudly. "I'd better go to Tesco and get some actual food." He laughed.

"I can go?" She offered. "I meant to go before you came back I just ran out of time." There was virtually no food in the house, the cupboards were almost totally empty. She had barely been there while he'd been gone and as a result hadn't really got anything.

"It's okay." He smiled, bending down to kiss her. "You stay here with her, I won't be long. Besides I need to do something or I'm going to fall asleep."

"Okay." She smiled. "See you in a bit."

"Love you." He called back over his shoulder, pulling on his shoes and disappearing out of the front door.

* * *

Lauren woke up not long after he left and Molly started to see what Georgie had meant about the non stop crying. She'd been pacing up and down the living room, singing to her and trying absolutely anything she could think of to comfort the screaming baby with very little success. When there was a knock at the door she was overwhelmed with relief that Charles was back, he'd done this all before with Sam and might at least know what to do with the screaming baby. It turned out that a brief stint working in paediatrics did not equip her to look after a baby.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She rolled her eyes, heading for the door. "If you remembered your bloody keys then…"

"Hello Molly."

It was a miracle she didn't drop Lauren, she was so surprised to see her parents standing on her doorstep. She stared at them both for a moment, mouth opening and trying to form a sentence. Her Mum kept looking back and forth between her and the baby.

"Is that…" Belinda whispered.

"My goddaughter."

"Can we come in?" Dave asked, gesturing towards the house when Molly made no move to invite them in.

Molly moved to the side, almost on autopilot, watching as the two of them walked in and kicked off their shoes. She could see them both looking around the house and she could already hear the conversation they'd be having later about the house being a palace compared to where she'd grown up. Lauren and thankfully decided to have some mercy on her and was starting to fall asleep again. She walked back through to the living room, sitting down on the sofa. They followed her awkwardly, sitting down opposite her.

"How did you even find me?" She sighed, looking at them both.

They exchanged a guilty look. "Google." Belinda admitted. "It took a while though, you changed your name."

Molly laughed bitterly. "I got married, remember? Not that either of you bothered to show up."

"We are sorry Mol, we just couldn't.." Dave tried.

"Oh spare me the bullshit." She hissed, trying to remind herself not to wake the baby. The last thing she needed was her to have another meltdown to add to the situation. "You obviously want something, you wouldn't have come all the way here if you didn't… why don't you just get to the point?"

"We wanted to see how you were, make sure you're happy." Belinda said softly.

Molly looked at her skeptically. "You couldn't just call?" She found it difficult to believe they'd had a sudden change of heart and dragged themselves all the way to Manchester just to see how she was.

"Would you have answered if I called?" Her mum sighed.

"No." Molly admitted. "I would've assumed you were after something, like you are now."

"We wanted to see how you were, make sure you were okay." Belinda argued.

"You more or less kicked me out when I got back from Kenya… You didn't have any concern for whether I was okay or not then." Molly snapped. Lauren stirred in her arms slightly and she dropped her voice. "Just hurry up and spit it out, whatever it is. Before Charles gets home."

"I don't-" Belinda started.

"We can't pay the rent." Dave cut in, apparently deciding for the first time in his life to actually do as she'd asked.

She rolled her eyes at them. "Of course. So you are after money." She wasn't even sure why she was surprised. She should've known it was coming. It was always money with them.

Belinda opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Charles arriving home, crashing through the front door as he struggled with the full bags of shopping he'd bought. "God I'd forgotten how much I…." He stopped dead as he walked into the living room, looking at Molly with a silent question.

It was at that point that she realised he'd never actually met her parents. "Charles… these are my parents. Belinda and Dave." She said slowly. He didn't succeed in hiding the look that crossed his face.

"I'll… I'll just go and put these down." He mumbled, looking rather like a rabbit in the headlights as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"I'll be back in a minute." She muttered, following him into the kitchen and closing the door behind her.

"What are they doing here?" Charles asked the second she closed the door, his voice a hushed whisper on account of the baby in her arms and her parents in the room next door. "I didn't think you spoke to them anymore?" He turned away from her and started unpacking the shopping quickly. He was putting everything in the wrong place she noticed, but she couldn't even be bothered to tell him. She'd move it later.

"I don't. They're skint." She said as though that explained everything.

He shut the fridge door with a slam and turned to face her. "So what, they think they're just going to turn up here and you'll bail them out?"

"Can you take her?" She asked, already depositing Lauren into his arms before he could say anything.

"You didn't answer my question." He prompted, watching her as she turned and started rummaging in one of the kitchen drawers. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for my cheque book." She sighed, eventually locating it shoved right to the back. She stood up, pen in hand and started writing out the cheque. She'd do almost anything to get them out of the house at this point.

"You're not seriously going to give them the money." He hissed, disbelief written all over his face.

She paused halfway through writing the cheque, looking up at him. "What else do you expect me to do?"

"Tell them to go!" He was struggling to comprehend why they were even having a conversation about it. "They'll just keep coming back, if you do it once they'll be back."

"I know." She signed the cheque, tearing it out of the book and turning to face him. "I'm surprised it's taken them this long to come around again."

"You've done this before?"

She nodded. "Don't worry about it. I'll use the money out of my savings and.."

"I'm not worried about the bloody money Molly, for god's sake! I thought you'd grown up enough to see what they're doing!" He snapped.

"What else am I supposed to do?" She snapped.

"Tell them where they can stick it!" He hissed. "They wouldn't even help you after everything that happened! My Mum and Dad would never even think-"

"Yeah well not all of us were quite as lucky as you in the family department." She snapped back. She was painfully reminded of how much her parents had failed every time they saw his parents.

"You're acting like a child for god's sake." He rolled his eyes at her. "Why don't you just listen to me for once?"

She bit back the sharp response on the tip of her tongue, her phone ringing in her pocket and distracting her. She pulled it out and answered quickly, already knowing it was going to be work. "Hello…. Yeah… Okay, no… it's fine… I'll be there in an hour."

She hung up the phone and turned to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" He grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards him. As he reached for the cheque in her hand she snatched it away from him.

"I'm going to give this to my Mum and then I'm going to work." She sighed wearily.

"I thought you'd got the week off." He wasn't sure if he actually believed her or if she was just trying to get out of there to avoid the inevitable argument that was coming.

"Yeah, well…. In the story of my fucking life someone else has fucked up and I get to pick up the pieces." She snapped, pulling her arm free of his grasp.

She walked back into the living room and thrust the cheque at her mother, vaguely aware of Charles standing in the kitchen doorway still holding Lauren. She could feel his disapproval without even needing to look at him. "Take this and go. That's all you're getting. When he spends it all in the pub I don't want to hear about it."

"Mol-" Belinda started.

Dave reached over and plucked the cheque out of her hand. "Cheers Mol." He grinned and she could practically see him calculating how many beers it would buy him. "Come on, let's go." He was halfway out of the door before Molly could say anything, Belinda close behind him.

She pushed the door closed behind them and then jogged up the stairs to get ready for work. Charles followed close behind, putting Lauren down carefully in the middle of their bed and watching as she stomped around the bedroom getting ready. She struggled with the zipper on her skirt for a moment and he moved forward to help her.

"Don't." She shook her head, yanking the zipper up herself. She was angry- she just couldn't work out if she was angry with him for judging her for bailing her parents out or angry with her parents. Maybe both. She was just trying to get out of there before she said something to him she couldn't take back.

"When will you be home?" Charles asked as she disappeared into the bathroom, sweeping her hair up into something she hoped vaguely resembled a bun and quickly putting on some makeup to try and hide how tired she was.

"I don't know." She called, rummaging around in her drawer for her ID badge for a second. She grabbed her heels out of the bottom of the wardrobe and disappearing down the stairs.

Charles quickly scooped Lauren up off the bed and followed after her. He wasn't quite quick enough, the front door slamming shut and the car engine starting before he was even halfway down the stairs. He briefly considered following her to work and then thought better of it. One thing he'd quickly learned was it was best to give her some space to calm down. She could be ridiculously stubborn and he'd never win, even if it made him feel a bit sick that she'd gone to work so angry with him.

And right on cue Lauren started crying again, as if he needed something to make it worse.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"What are you doing here?" She glanced up from her computer to see Rob, one of the other consultants, leaning in the doorway of her office. "I didn't think anyone would be able to tear you away from that husband of yours when he got back!"

She rolled her eyes at him, but felt the pang of guilt in her stomach. She'd been so excited to have Charles back, it was literally all she'd been talking about for months- to the point where Rob had repeatedly told her to shut up and threatened to lock her in her office if she didn't stop. "Staffing screwed up, asked me to cover tonight at the last minute." She shrugged, glancing back down at her screen again.

"You do know how on-call works right?" He asked, sitting down in the chair opposite her.

"Make yourself at home why don't you." She sighed.

"What are you doing here?" He repeated.

"Working." She answered. "Or at least I was until you interrupted me."

"You're supposed to be on-call…. From home…. Enjoying that husband I've been listening to you go on and on about for months." He raised an eyebrow at her. "Unless there's trouble in paradise?"

She shook her head at him. "We're not talking about this. Go home."

He stood up, smirking. "You should too."

"I've got patients." She stood up from her desk, hanging her stethoscope round her neck. "You should go home and leave me to do my job in peace."

"There are plenty of other doctors here, they don't need you to babysit them." He pointed out as he followed her to the door. "They'll call you if they need you."

She paused, pulling the door closed behind her. "I know, but I've never been very good at leaving people to get on with things."

"Oh I know." A look of amusement crossed his face. "You sure everything's okay though?"

"Great." She nodded tightly. "Have a good night."

"You too Molly." He smiled.

She watched for a second as he disappeared towards the door, then turned towards the nurses station. "Right, what can I do to help?" She asked, trying to ignore the fact that they all looked as confused as to why she was there as Rob had.

* * *

She stared at the number on her phone for a moment before she answered it, trying to work out who it was who was calling her at that time of night. For a heart stopping moment she worried that something had happened with Elvis. "Hello?"

"Molly?"

She recognised her Mum's voice on the other end of the phone immediately, her heart sank. "Mum? It's the middle of the night."

"I know, sorry." Belinda mumbled on the other end of the phone. "I just.. I um… I just wanted to say thank you… y'know. For earlier."

Molly ducked into her office, closing the door behind her. The department was relatively quiet for a change and the last thing she wanted was everyone overhearing her. "It doesn't change anything, I hope you both realise that."

"I really am sorry Molly, for everything." Belinda's voice trembled, on the edge of tears.

Molly felt her anger subside just enough to wonder what on earth had happened. "What's done is done." She shrugged. "Just take the money and whatever. You had your chance to turn up to the wedding and try and make things right. Don't feel like you have to pretend just because you needed something from me."

There was a long pause before Belinda spoke again rather awkwardly. "Well there was actually a reason I called."

"Of course there was." She couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice. She'd known it was coming and yet it still hurt.

"Your Dad borrowed some money off someone… he's not a good man Molly."

"Dad or the guy he borrowed the money from?" Molly shot back.

"We thought that what you gave us would be enough." Belinda said rather sheepishly.

"But it isn't?" Molly sighed, finishing the sentence for her.

"Why would you borrow money off someone like that? How many times have I told you?"

"I am sorry. We didn't have a lot of choice. What kind of bank is going to lend us anything? We were desperate!"

"Save it. I don't want to hear it." Molly said dismissively.

"I wouldn't ask but-"

"How much more do you need?" She asked, cutting her Mum off.

" A thousand." Belinda breathed.

Molly snorted with laughter. There was a long pause on the end of the phone. "Oh god, you're serious."

"Molly, please."

There was a knock on the door of her office. "I've got to go. Just text me your bank details. I'll sort something out."

"Thank you. You're-"

"Don't bother. I don't want to hear it." Molly snapped. "Don't call me again. You're not getting another penny out of me after this." She hung up the phone, shoved it back in her pocket and wrenched the door open. "What do you need?" She asked the nurse standing on the other side, trying to rearrange her face into something that resembled a smile.

She hadn't exactly planned on staying at work for the entire night. She'd figured she'd go out, get some fresh air and clear her head for a few hours, check everything was okay and then head home. Afterall Rob was right, they could call her if they needed her and she was only a few minutes away. But, one thing had led to another- combined with the crippling fear she'd had since she took the job that something would go wrong on her watch- and she'd found herself still busy seeing patients when the day shift had turned up the next morning. If she'd told them she was going home no one would've questioned her, but if she was being honest she was quite happy avoiding the argument that might be waiting for her at home

She grabbed her things and headed for the door, checking her phone as she headed out into the far too bright sunlight. A couple of texts from her Mum- bank details and a thank you that she didn't really mean. Three texts from Charles asking when she was coming home- at 1am, 3am and 4am. He'd obviously given up after that and realised she wasn't coming home. She wondered for a second if he'd be waiting for her when she got home. Her stomach churned with anxiety as she headed out to the car.

* * *

She tiptoed in, shutting the door carefully behind her thinking he'd still be in bed. The house was silent and the lights were all off so she thought for a moment she'd got away with it. She was halfway through to the kitchen when he spoke and frightened the life out of her.

"I thought maybe you weren't coming back." He said quietly, she spun around to face him.

"I told you I was going to work." She called back over her shoulder, going to make herself a cup of tea. She was dead on her feet but at the same time knew she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep any time soon. When she turned around he was leaning in the kitchen doorway.

"I've also been with you long enough to know you wouldn't have been there all night unless you wanted to. One of the perks of the new job I think I remember you telling me." He raised an eyebrow at her as she fished the teabag out of her mug.

"I like my job." She shrugged. "I wanted to help the team out."

"And that's it?" He took a step closer to her. "It's not that you just didn't want to have this conversation?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." She stared into her cup of tea, at the floor and anywhere but at him. She could feel the weight of his gaze on her and she knew the conversation he was talking about and she'd been avoiding was coming- whether she liked it or not. "I'm tired. I'm going to drink this and watch the news, then I'm going to bed."

"Molly." He sighed as she walked through to the living room.

She sat down on the sofa, flipped the tv on and sipped at her tea. "Just say it." She sighed, looking up at him. "You're clearly not going to leave me in peace until you do."

He sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and looked at her for a moment. "I'm really not sure why you're determined to turn this into a fight."

"I haven't said anything." She retorted.

"Look they're your parents Molly, I can understand why you'd want to help them." He said slowly, trying to word it in a way that wasn't going to wind her up. "I just don't like to see them taking advantage of you."

"Well thank you for your insight on my family." She glared at him. "I wouldn't worry yourself because I doubt I'll see them again. Happy?" She'd quickly decided what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him as far as Belinda's phone call last night went.

"No." He shook his head, a deep frown etched on his face. "You know that wasn't what I meant."

"Fine. Whatever." She rolled her eyes at him, draining the last of her tea. "I'm sorry my family can't be as wonderful as yours okay?"

"Molly-"

"It's done now, okay?" She sighed, getting up off the sofa. "Us arguing about it isn't going to change the fact I gave them a cheque."

"No but-" he stopped as she disappeared into the kitchen, putting her mug in the sink. "What are you doing?" He asked as she carried on straight through the living room and headed for the stairs.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." She called, already halfway up the stairs. "I'm done talking about this."

She was half expecting him to follow her up there, whatever it was that was winding him up about her giving Belinda and Dave the money he was clearly desperate to get it off his chest. Luckily for her he knew her well enough to know it wasn't the time. Sleep deprived Molly had never been very understanding, something he'd learned quite quickly when they'd first moved in together.

She pulled on one of his shirts, closed the blinds and settled herself into bed. She'd apologise to him later and listen to whatever it was he wanted to say when she wasn't about to fall asleep standing up. She pulled the duvet up around her, realising the bed smelt like him again now he was home. She was asleep almost the second her head hit the pillow.

He was laying on the bed beside her when she woke up, frowning at something on his phone. As she stretched and rolled over, making him realise she was awake he put the phone down on the bedside table and turned so he was facing her.

"Hi." He murmured.

"Hi." She yawned. "What time is it?"

"Half two… I wasn't sure whether to wake you up or not?" He raised an eyebrow. Usually she'd tell him to wake her up or she'd never get to sleep again that night when she was coming off her night shifts. This time he hadn't quite been sure what kind of reaction he'd get.

"I really needed that sleep." She smiled, relaxing back against the pillows. Her whole body still felt as though it was made of lead she was so tired. She was pretty sure she could sleep for at least another eight hours given the opportunity.

"Good night?" He asked somewhat warily. He didn't want to argue with her but at some point they were going to have to finish the conversation they'd had earlier.

She shrugged. "It was okay."

He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to elaborate. When she just shook her head he knew whatever it was it wasn't something she wanted to tell him. She was a bit like him in that way- sometimes it was easier to come home from work and try and pretend it had never happened than to spend all day mulling it over.

"I am sorry about earlier." She said slowly.

His hand slowly reached out for hers, linking his fingers with hers. "I know. I am too."

"They caught me by surprise." She muttered. "The last person I expected to be at the door."

"I can't say I was expecting them when I got home either." He half smiled. "What are you going to do now?"

She stiffened slightly. "What's done is done?" She offered. "I'm not going to keep bailing them out every five minutes. I think I made that clear." She felt another pang of guilt in her stomach. She'd made that anything but clear. She really should tell him about the phone call she'd had but the fear of starting another argument kept her mouth closed.

"Do you think you'll hear from them again?" He asked.

"I dunno. No telling with them lot."

"They're your family Molly, you don't have to try and pretend you don't care about them." He suggested, squeezing her hand.

"I know." She rolled towards him so she could rest her head against his shoulder. "But believe me I learned a long time ago not to expect anything from them- then you don't get disappointed. Besides, I'm quite happy with our little family."

His face lit up as she said it. "Speaking of…." He pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Oh?"

"I booked us a little cottage for a week to go and see Sam." He grinned. "We do need to leave first thing tomorrow though."

"You don't hang around!" She laughed.

"Well I do have an ulterior motive for doing it like this." He looked a little sheepish.

"Should I be worried?" She laughed.

"Georgie said Elvis isn't coming home just yet- they think probably the end of next week. I thought this way we could go and relax and then we'll be around if they need us when we get back? Plus I wasn't sure how much more leave you had I knew you'd booked this off already." He looked almost nervous for a moment, waiting for her to say something.

"Perfect." She smiled, kissing him gently. "I can't wait to see Sam again."

"I know." He grinned back. "And I finally get to spend some time alone with you."

She raised an eyebrow at him as he shifted, rolling so he was almost on top of her, his weight pinning her to the bed. "Oh really?"

"It's been a long six months Mrs James. I've really, really missed you." He said softly.

"Ditto."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Packing had consisted of her realising she hadn't done any washing for weeks and didn't have anything even vaguely appropriate that was clean to pack. She'd panicked and started shoving clothes into the washing machine much to Charles' amusement, trying to work out what else she needed to do before they went away. As much as she was looking forward to getting away for a week and actually spending some time with him she would've liked it better if he'd actually given her some warning. She'd never been a fan of last minute plans.

She kept quiet though as she rushed around getting things ready. She could see how excited he was about going to see Sam. They hadn't seen nearly enough of him since Rebecca had announced she was moving. They'd spoken to him on FaceTime quite a bit to start with but as he'd settled in and made new friends he'd started calling less and less. Charles didn't complain- he just wanted him to be happy- but sometimes she'd catch him flicking through the photos on his phone and she could almost see him wondering what their little family might've been like if there wasn't several hundred miles between them.

She hadn't even complained when he'd told her about his plans to leave in the stupidly early hours of the morning to avoid the traffic. He'd planned the whole thing with more like a mission than a holiday- even down to where they would be stopping for food and petrol and how long they could stop for and still get there on time. She'd laughed and told him he wasn't at work anymore and maybe he should relax a little but she was only joking. He rolled his eyes at her and then he'd disappeared out to fill the car up with petrol in anticipation.

When he'd nudged her awake at 4am she'd really wished that she'd tried to persuade him to leave at a more sociable hour. Her body was still protesting at the lack of sleep the night before and she was fairly sure if she'd closed her eyes again she would've been back asleep in seconds. He knew her too well though, nudging her every couple of seconds until she eventually gave in and got up. It was still dark outside, the first little bit of light just beginning to show. Definitely not a time to be awake and going on a road trip to the other end of the country.

She wasn't sure if he'd planned it to get some peace and quiet, or maybe it was just lucky that was how it had worked out, but she'd fallen asleep again almost as soon as they got in the car. When she eventually woke up they were well over halfway there, he'd pulled up in the car park of a McDonald's and was eating his breakfast.

"You should've woken me up." She yawned. Her stomach growled and her eyes followed his McMuffin up to his lips as he took a bite out of it.

He rolled his eyes, pausing to rummage in the bag and hand her the food he had bought her. He laughed as her eyes lit up. "What wake you up so you could criticise my driving the whole way here?" He laughed. "I don't think so."

Her mouth was too full to answer him so she pulled a face at him, knowing he'd know what she was trying to say.

"Anyone would think you were starved to death." He joked, watching as she took another huge bite.

"I didn't have any breakfast because someone insisted on leaving at an unreasonable hour." She shot back. "I think you forget sometimes I'm not one of your soldiers you can boss around."

He laughed. "Point taken…. it worked though, didn't it? You survived at this way we'll be there in time for dinner."

She rolled her eyes at him. "If you say so. What time is Rebecca bringing Sam tomorrow?"

He paused, finishing the last of his food. "I need to ring her later and check. After school I think."

She nodded. "So what are we going to do when we get there?"

He shrugged. "Depends what you want to do? We can go out and explore, go out for dinner…. I'll be just as happy on the sofa watching tv."

She considered it for a moment. "I'll think about it. I've got what another hour?"

"Try two and a half." He laughed, throwing his rubbish into the bag and starting the engine again as she groaned.

"Why did Rebecca have to move so far away?"

"You know, I've been thinking that the whole bloody way down here. I'm starting to think she did it on purpose."

"I think you're right." Molly sighed, her attention turning back to her breakfast as he rejoined the motorway.

"Here we go." Charles grinned victoriously as they finally arrived. They were an hour later than he had planned for thanks to some rather misleading directions from the satnav that had sent them off down something that most certainly wasn't a public road. Charles had been annoyed that his carefully thought out plans had gone awry. Molly had found the whole thing hilarious and in the end he'd had to admit defeat and see the funny side of the fact they'd almost driven into a field because he'd been blindly following the directions.

"This is beautiful." Molly breathed, turning to him returning his grin. "Thank you." It was a gorgeous little cottage, perched on the cliff top looking out over the sea. It looked like something from a postcard.

"Worth the trip then?" He asked, leaning across to kiss her.

"So far." She winked. "Have to see what the company is like for the rest of the week mind you…." She clambered out of the car, following him to the boot to get their bags.

"Bloody charming." He grumbled, fishing the keys they'd picked up out his pocket and unlocking the front door. "All those months you spent calling me and making all these promises about when I got home… now you've got me back you can't wait to get rid of me."

She thought for a moment he was serious and she whirled round to correct him. Then she spotted the familiar mischievous twinkle in his eye and realised he was having her on. "You'll have to see if you can persuade me you're worth having around later." She winked.

"I can work with that." He laughed, pushing the door open.

It was just as lovely inside as she'd imagined it to be, her tiredness was replaced with excitement at a whole week without interruption with Charles and getting to see Sam again. It was exactly what they'd both needed.

"It's perfect, thank you." She smiled, dropping her bag at the foot of the stairs and turning to face him.

He dropped his own bag, pulling her into his arms and placing a soft kiss on the top of her head. "Now then… did you have any ideas about what you want to do tonight?"

"Well I was going to say let's go out, but now I've seen this place I think I just want to stay here… maybe forever." She sighed in contentment, resting her head on his chest.

"Sounds like a great plan if you ask me." He agreed.

* * *

"What are you thinking about?" She asked softly, twisting in his arms so she could look at him. They were curled up on the sofa, he'd lit the fire and they'd ordered a takeaway in the end.

"Just stuff." He shrugged.

"Like….?"

"Like how long I'll get to enjoy this for before we'll be thousands of miles away from each other again." He sighed.

"Way to put a downer on the evening." She attempted to joke. The idea of him leaving her again was something she had been trying desperately not to think about.

"Sorry." He half smiled. "It's just… well, with everything that happened… It could've been me up on that roof Molly."

"I know. I've been thinking about it constantly for the last six months."

His fingers tightened around her waist slightly. "I know… and I don't like the fact that I disappear off for months and leave you here worrying about whether I'm going to come home in one piece or not."

"I guess I'll get used to it eventually." At the end of the day it was going to be something she had to get used to- like the fact he'd had to get used to the fact she never came home from work on time. It was part of their jobs, as much as they wished it wasn't.

"I don't know if I want you to have to get used to it." He said slowly.

She pulled back a little so she could look at him, trying to read his expression. "What are you saying?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "It used to be easy, the army was always all I'd ever wanted.. But now…"

"But now?" She prompted.

"I don't know." He repeated. "I'm not saying anything for definite… I think it's just with Elvis and that, it's made me start to think about life after the army I guess."

"Don't rush into anything. Let's not forget Elvis was ready to throw it all away after what happened and I think he would have regretted it. I don't want you to do the same thing."

"I think if you asked Elvis now he might wish he had." Charles pointed out. "I was standing there, after the helicopter turned up and they took him away. All I could think about was Georgie having to explain to Lauren why her dad wasn't going to be there to see her grow up."

"I know." She'd had the exact same thoughts when she'd seen Elvis laying there in that hospital bed.

"I don't know how to explain it. It's not that I didn't love Sam, and I worried about not being there for him when he was growing up. I think maybe it was the way things were with Rebecca, it was just easier to be away. But now, with you…. I don't know what I want anymore."

She looked at him for a long moment, reaching up to smooth the deep frown on his forehead. "How about you stop worrying about it for now?" She suggested. "You don't need to make any decisions right now. We're here to have a holiday and see Sam. Enjoy yourself. If you still feel the same in a couple of weeks time when you've got back into the swing of being home we can talk about it properly then?"

He nodded slowly, kissing her forehead. "You're very good at all this."

"I know." She grinned. "So, what do you want to do with Sam?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

He pulled his phone out and started searching the internet for something they could do to keep his son entertained. "I don't know… he's probably got a better idea of what there is to do here than we have."

"Good point… I have no idea what kids his age even like."

"Me neither." He laughed.

There was a long pause. "What do you think Elvis will do now?" She asked.

He looked surprised by her question. "What do you mean?"

"Well…. I mean he's not going to be able go back to doing what he was doing before- is he?"

Charles stared at her for a moment. "I hadn't really thought about it." It was hard to picture Elvis doing anything else, much the same as him. It was all either of them had really ever known, the thought of doing anything else was mildly terrifying. "Just like I haven't really thought about what I might do."

She looked at him again for a moment. "You know, you sound to me like you've already made up your mind."

He paused for a second and she could practically see him considering whether to say what he was thinking or not. "This tour… There was a point where I really thought we weren't going to make it out." He admitted, his voice a low whisper.

She felt her stomach twist, just the thought of it making her feel sick. "What happened?" She was almost afraid to hear the answer, but the situations her mind was going to come up with to try and fill in the gaps would almost certainly be worse.

He pulled a face, trying to work out how he could explain it to her with what he could actually tell her. "It was one of those last minute things. I've always hated them. We met Elvis there- we were the closest so they sent us to assist… Before what happened with Elvis we started to clear the rest of the area and try and find what we were looking for… They must have known we were coming because when we went into the next building we got ambushed. They were on top of us before any of us could even think about pulling a trigger. Took our weapons off us and we were just stuck there. Nothing we could do but wait and hope they weren't going to kill us. It was brutal." His hand wandered to the nearly faded bruises on his face.

"What happened?" She prompted when he stopped.

"We were lucky." He said simply. "Really, really lucky. Elvis and his team took a wrong turn on their way through to clear the other side of the building. They came up behind them thank god."

"Oh." Molly breathed. She knew he was leaving some of the details out to spare her, but she could imagine from the state of his face when he'd come home what had happened before they'd been rescued.

"If they hadn't have ended up coming in the god knows what would have happened… and all I could think about when I was sitting there is all the things we haven't done yet." He said softly, his hand coming up to push her hair off her face. "I was thinking about never hearing how your new job is going, not being here to have kids of our own one day, or to see Sam grow up and… I don't know, just thinking about it all like that- I love the army, but I've got a lot to lose now too."

She leant forward and kissed him gently. "Thank you for telling me."

"I didn't want you to worry." He sighed. "And after everything that happened with Elvis I'd almost forgotten it ever happened to be honest."

"You forgot about the part where you almost got killed?" She questioned.

"Trust me- In the grand scheme of everything that happened that day it didn't seem that important." He sighed.

"Did you mean what you said?" She asked quietly.

"Probably, you'll have to be more specific though?" He smiled.

"About wanting to have kids?" Her voice was so quiet he barely heard her. She held her breath waiting for his answer. They'd discussed it briefly a few times, and at the time it wasn't really something she'd been ready to think seriously about. But now…. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't been thinking about it while he was away.

"Of course." He looked surprised. "Does this mean…..?"

She nodded, a smile spreading across her face. "Maybe not right now, I mean I have just started a new job but I want-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence. He grinned back at her and leaned in to kiss her and cut her off, but he knew what she was going to say.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Much to his disappointment Sam had looked far from excited when Rebecca dropped him off the next day. He'd had a row with Rebecca on the driveway, announcing that he hated her for making him come, then stormed into the cottage and parked himself on the sofa with his headphones in without so much as a word to Molly or Charles.

"I'm really sorry." Rebecca grimaced, handing the bag of his stuff to Charles. "There's a party or something happening with his friends tomorrow and he's been sulking about not going all week. I did try and explain that there would be other parties he could go to and he doesn't get to see you very often…. apparently it's all my fault now and I'm the worst Mum ever."

Molly and Charles both smiled sympathetically. "It's okay, really." Charles nodded. "I'm sure he'll get over it, thanks for bringing him."

"I wouldn't hold your breath." Rebecca sighed. "That boy is even more stubborn than you are."

Molly laughed. "God help us then."

Rebecca grinned back at her, Charles looking back and forth between them wondering how they'd managed to turn this around on him. "Bloody charming, both of you."

"Seriously though, good luck. I'd take the toddler tantrums again over this any day!" Rebecca called back over her shoulder as she headed hack to the car. "Have fun!"

They shut the door and both stood there in the porch for a moment, looking at each other. "What?"Molly laughed.

"I am so not equipped to deal with a grumpy teenager." He sighed, glancing over her shoulder at Sam who was staring furiously at his ipad.

"He's not even a teenager yet." Molly laughed. "There's two of us and one of him. How hard can it be?"

Charles snorted with laughter. "The words of someone who hasn't ever had to deal with Sam when he's in a bad mood."

"No." She agreed. "But I do have to deal with you on a regular basis. He can't be any worse than you."

"Ouch!" Charles laughed. "Don't hold back. I guess we've gone past the point where you're happy to have me back and being nice to me already?"

"I'm always nice to you!" Molly laughed, kissing him quickly. "Go on, go and see if you can persuade Sam that being here with us isn't some kind of punishment or this week isn't going to be nearly as fun as I planned."

"Yes ma'am." He grinned, walking off with a mock salute and a wink.

* * *

After caving in to Sam's demands to have pizza for dinner and visit the monkey sanctuary the next day, as well as his insistence that Charles should buy him a game that was almost certainly not suitable for children- which explained Rebecca's reluctance to buy it- Sam had eventually stopped sulking about not going to laser tag with his friends. Charles was relying heavily on being able to distract his son with something else later on in the week to make him forget all the things he'd been tricked into agreeing to. Molly was finding the whole thing hilarious and was absolutely no help at all.

It was gone midnight by the time Charles had managed to convince Sam to go to bed- probably at least in part due to all the sweets he'd eaten when they weren't looking. Molly had been starting to wonder quite how long a sugar high could last. He'd eventually crashed- much to both of their relief- and been persuaded to go to bed.

"Oh my god." Charles sighed, flopping down on the bed beside her dramatically. "I see what Rebecca means."

"I don't think letting him eat three bags of sweets was your smartest move." She pointed out.

"No." He admitted. "But you could've stopped me- it was you who bought him the sweets anyway!"

"Not my place." She laughed. "Besides I had quite a lot of fun watching you try and undo what you'd caused."

He got up to get undressed, heading for the bathroom. He paused in the doorway, turning back to look at her. "Is this what it's going to be like?"

"What?" She rolled over to look at him.

"When we've got kids." He laughed. "You're going to fill them full of sugar and watch them run me ragged?" He disappeared into the bathroom.

She laid there for a moment, pondering what he had just said. "Them?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him as he climbed into bed.

"I'd didn't mean it like that but…."

"But what?" She asked, rolling towards him as he pulled her into his arms.

"But I quite like the sound of it." He grinned.

"You might." She laughed. "But you won't be the one left at home trying to single handedly wrangle these children while I'm in a war zone on the other side of the world."

She'd meant it as a joke but from the look on his face it had a struck a nerve. "I don't want it to be like that." He said softly.

"I know." She smiled. "It's part of your job. Like the fact I'll probably be lucky if I manage to get Christmas off at any point in the next five years and I'll almost certainly be at work for our wedding anniversary _again._ It's just the way things are."

"If… if we're going to do this…" He hesitated.

"What?" She prompted.

"I'm going to be there this time, do it properly. There's nothing I regret more than everything I missed when Sam was growing up." He looked sad for a moment, she brought her hand up to his cheek and turned him to look at her.

"You're a brilliant dad." She said softly. "That boy adores you."

"He's a great kid." He sighed. "But that's a lot more down to Rebecca than me. She was basically a single parent the whole time we were together…. sometimes I think about all the parents evenings, sports days and school plays I missed- never mind the birthdays and Christmases- and for what?"

"You don't know how many people you've saved with what you've been doing all these years." She pointed out. "And as far as Sam is concerned his is a hero."

"You don't know that he's not going to end up hating me for not being there."

"I do." She said confidently. "Because I've seen the way he looks at you, he wants to be you."

Charles face fell and for a moment she panicked that she'd said the wrong thing. "Oh god."

"What?!"

"Absolutely not."

"Absolutely not what?" She still hadn't got a bloody clue what he was talking about.

"You need to convince him he wants to be a doctor or something instead. I love my job but I don't think I could handle the stress of him flying off into a war zone. Absolutely not." He shook his head.

She laughed at the horror on his face. "Now you know what it's like to be me I guess?"

"I've never really thought about it like that." He admitted.

"I'll get used to it eventually, I hope." She yawned. It was a lie. She didn't think she'd ever get used to the gut wrenching feeling off dropping him off at the base.

He was quiet for a long moment. "Maybe." He whispered.

* * *

Molly woke early, the daylight was streaming in through the window where she hadn't pulled the curtains properly the night before. Charles was still fast asleep beside her. He'd looked tired the night before and she suspected the last few months were catching up with him. She realized hadn't heard a peep out of Sam, a quick peep round the door of the bedroom revealed he was also fast asleep. She considered getting back into bed and trying to go back to sleep briefly but she was wide awake and it wasn't going to work.

Instead she headed downstairs, sitting in the armchair by the window with a cup of tea and looking out at the sea below them. It was beautiful, but the thing she noticed the most was how quiet and peaceful it was. Living with her parents had always been a madhouse, she'd spent quite a lot of time living in accommodation at various hospitals over the years which had been anything but quiet…. Then had come the hustle and bustle of the refugee camp in Kenya. Even where they lived now was close enough to the hospital that there was a near constant background noise of sirens. It was the first time in ages she'd sat and just heard silence. She found herself wondering if maybe they could end up moving somewhere like it when Charles left the army….

Her phone buzzed on the arm of the chair, a feeling of dread washing over her as she saw Belinda's name on the screen. "Hello?" She answered rather warily.

"Oh, hi Molly." Belinda couldn't hide the surprise in her voice. "You answered."

"That's usually what happens when you phone someone." Molly rolled her eyes. "What do you want Mum?"

There was a moment of hesitation on the other end of the phone. "I was wondering if I could come and see you at some point- maybe we could have lunch and catch up or something?"

Molly laughed quietly. "I meant what I said you know."

"What?"

"You don't have to try and pretend you care now just because I gave you that money." She sighed.

"I do care." Belinda said rather defensively. "I know we haven't exactly been the best parents in the world, but look at how you turned out. I'm so proud of you Molly and I really wish things had been different and I hadn't missed out on it all."

"Well it's a bit late for all that now really isn't it?"

"I know." Belinda sighed. "But it doesn't mean I can't try."

"You're going to come all the way to me just to have lunch?" Molly asked doubtfully.

"Yes." She answered straight away. "I was hoping maybe we could talk, properly. You could show me your wedding pictures too?"

"Okay." Molly agreed quietly. "But I'm on holiday this week. I'll have to check my shifts and call you when I get back?"

"Okay." Belinda agreed. "Promise me you will actually call though."

"Yeah. Bye Mum."

"Bye Molly."

She only got a few more moments peace and quiet. There was a noise upstairs that sounded much like a herd of elephants running across the landing followed by some muffled shrieking from upstairs that was most definitely coming from her husband. Leaving her mug on the window sill she jogged up the stairs and opened the bedroom door to find Sam jumping on the bed, laughing hysterically as he tried to convince Charles to get up.

"Molly help me!" He giggled in between bounces.

"Don't you dare." Charles mouthed.

"Don't do what? This?" Molly laughed, jumping up on to the bed much to Sam's delight. "Come on old man- I think it might be time for you to get up!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"I hate having time off" Molly grumbled, standing in front of the mirror getting herself ready to go back to work.

Charles stuck his head around the door of their ensuite, wrapped in a towel having just got out of the shower and looked at her questioningly. "I guess I could always leave you at home next time if you hate it that much." He joked.

She pulled a face at him in the mirror. "You know what I meant."

"I think so." He laughed. "What you're trying to say is you hate the bit where you have to go back again after."

"That's the one." She sighed, finally finished with trying to wrestle her hair into submission. "It feels like it's my first day all over again."

"You've only been gone two weeks." He laughed, taking a step towards her. "I don't think they will have forgotten who you are just yet."

"Don't." She warned.

"Don't what?" He smirked, taking another step closer.

"You know full well what I'm talking about, I'm going to be late as it is!" She scolded.

"I did tell you not to keep snoozing your alarm."

"Alright smartass. You're the one who kept me up all night." She rolled her eyes at him. "You need to get ready and go and pick Georgie up. I'll meet you there after work?"

"Yeah. What time do you think you'll be there?"

"Just after four I hope. I did tell them I needed to leave early." She turned her back to him to face the mirror and tuck a stray hair back into place.

"Okay." He used the opportunity to sneak up behind her and place a soft kiss on her cheek. "I'll miss you."

"It's only a few hours." She laughed. "Besides I'm sure Elvis and Georgie will keep you busy."

Charles groaned. "I love Elvis and that, but he'd better not make my last day off a living hell- whether he got blown off a building or not."

She laughed. "Good luck."

"Cheers for that." He laughed, kissing her as she stretched up on her toes towards him. "Go on, go… before you're any later than you already are."

"Yes boss." She winked. "Love you."

"Love you." He called after her, hearing the door slam and then the car start a couple of seconds later.

In the end she'd made it in with a few minutes to spare- just long enough to grab a costa on her way into the handover meeting for the morning. There were a few quiet groans as Rob mentioned that the norovirus was doing the rounds again- they were three nurses and two doctors down with it already. Molly already knew she was going to spend the entire day washing her hands obsessively. The last thing she needed was to catch that, especially not with Elvis coming home.

Thankfully the meeting was quick- the night shift were keen to get home and the day shift ready to get started. As everyone filed slowly out of the room she grabbed Rob quickly. "Sorry, I just wanted to check I'll be okay to head out at 4 today?"

He stared at her blankly. "I feel like we've had this discussion and I've forgotten all about it." Rob looked awkward.

"We did." She sighed. "I rang you when I got back from Cornwall."

"Right." He didn't look sure. "But yeah, it's fine. As long as it's not too crazy in here."

"Thank you." She smiled.

"Something exciting planned?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Something like that." She smiled, turning around and heading off to find her first patient of the day.

* * *

Georgie was standing on the doorstep waiting for him when he got to her house, he glanced at the clock wondering if he was late. He was actually ten minutes early and he wondered how long she'd been standing there waiting for him.

"Thanks for this." She said as she clambered into the car beside him. "I can't believe he's finally coming home."

"No, me neither." Charles forced a smile, turning his attention back to the road. He'd popped in to see Elvis with Molly a few days ago after they'd got back. He was looking a lot better than he had done, there was no denying that. But it hadn't escaped Charles the look of pain and exhaustion that would cross Elvis' face when he thought no one was looking. He was putting in a brave face in front of Georgie and Charles wasn't sure he'd really thought through the reality of being at home when he'd insisted on going.

"Molly's coming later right?" Georgie asked quietly, staring out of the window.

"Yeah." He nodded, stealing a glance at Georgie out of the corner of his eye. "She should be finished work by 4. I think by the time we get there and pick him up and get home again she won't be far behind us." He'd known Georgie long enough to know that underneath the calm exterior she was nervous.

"Good." Georgie breathed a visible sigh of relief.

He paused for a second. "Everything Okay Lane?"

She chewed on her lip nervously, turning to look at him. "I don't know how to do this." She admitted.

"Do what?" He asked. This was out of his depth, he'd never been good at things like this. He suddenly really, really wished Molly was there again.

" _This._ " She sighed. "Do you think we'll ever get back to normal?"

He was quiet for a moment, thinking. "You might both have to get used to what your new normal is." He said slowly.

"When he was ready to throw it all away after what happened… I couldn't him imagine him without the job." She sighed. "It's always been so important to him. I don't think it's even crossed his mind yet that he probably won't be able to go back to it."

Charles was quiet for a moment, thinking about how he'd feel in Elvis' position. Yes- he was thinking about giving it all up, but that was his own choice. He wasn't sure he'd be able to wrap his head around it if the option was taken away from him.

"I don't know." He sighed. "But nothings set in stone, just concentrate on getting him better first?"

She nodded slowly. "You were there with him. Was it…bad?"

She heard his breath hitch in his throat. She still hadn't really heard what had happened that day. Elvis was insistent he didn't really remember and she wasn't sure if he was telling the truth or just trying to spare her the details. Charles had just outright avoided the question all together. Now he was trapped in a car with her he didn't have a way out.

"Yes." He admitted, his knuckles going white as his grip tightened on the steering wheel. "And I'm really glad you didn't have to see it because I'll never be able to get it out of my head."

"Oh." She'd seen similar things happen, all kinds of terrible things that she wished she never had. Somehow, the idea of it happening to Elvis was unthinkable.

"The thing is with Elvis." Charles said slowly, concentrating for a second as he merged with the traffic. "He's always been indestructible as long as I've known him. Special forces had him written all over it. He's always been one for taking a risk, it's what's always made him so good at it."

"But?" She could sense it coming.

"But… he's lived off the adrenaline for so long I'm not sure he'd survive a desk job." Charles sighed. "Things might be different now he's got you and Lauren… I don't know, I just find it hard to picture him doing anything other than what he does. It's part of him."

"I know." Georgie whispered. "I've been thinking about it a lot."

He reached across and squeezed her arm. "Let's just get him home for now?" He suggested. "You're going to have plenty of time to talk about it and no one needs to be making any decisions right now."

Georgie nodded silently and he turned his attention back to the road.

"Come in." She called, looking up from her desk. She'd retreated into her office in the hope of five minutes peace and quiet. She'd got a throbbing headache and coupled with being run off her feet all morning she wasn't exactly in the best of moods.

"I'm really sorry Dr James." One of the student nurses stood in the doorway looking terrified. Molly wondered briefly if she'd been that snappy with them earlier and she immediately felt guilty for taking out her frustration on them. She'd felt like crap all morning and it was one of those days where everything seemed to be going wrong but that really wasn't anyone's fault.

She felt her face soften as she looked at the poor girl. "That's okay, what do you need?" She asked, getting to her feet.

"They asked me to come and find you. There's been an accident with a coach load of school kids and Rob said he might be tied up for a while. They just phoned through to say there's been a stabbing- five minutes out and he asked me to come and find you to see if you could take it?" She explained.

"Okay." Molly nodded, rummaging in her desk drawer for some paracetamol and quickly swallowing them with the last mouthful of her cup of tea. "We'd better get moving then." She followed her out of the office.

The department was already a hive of activity, the earlier accident with the bus meaning there was a steady stream of ambulances arriving. There was a flurry of activity as everyone prepared for what was coming and made sure that they'd got everything ready. It was going to stretch them beyond capacity dealing with it all and for a moment she was quietly grateful just do have one patient to focus on. The thing she'd hated most about her new job was not just being responsible for her own patients now- she also had to keep an eye on all the junior doctors and she was the one they'd come to when there was a problem. It was terrifying and she wasn't sure she'd ever manage it all with the kind of ease and calmness the others seemed to.

"Have you got any more details?" She asked as she walked through the doors, looking at the two nurses who were waiting for the patient.

"Stab wound to the chest, that's all we've got at the minute." One of them answered.

Molly nodded. "Okay."

* * *

Elvis had looked tired before they'd even started the journey back to the car. He'd point blank refused to get in the wheelchair Charles had got, instead making painfully slow progress out to the car park on his crutches. Georgie had hovered nervously behind him, ready to grab him if he lost his balance which he had done on several occasions. By the time they'd actually got him to the car Charles had been seriously questioning whether they were actually doing the right thing by taking him home. He'd gone even paler than he had been to start with, his face pinched in pain as he'd struggled into the car. Elvis being Elvis, had insisted he was fine of course. Charles wasn't sure if it was for Georgie's benefit or just that he was desperate to get home. A mixture of both he'd suspected. There wasn't going to be any reasoning with his friend though, so he'd given in and simply driven them home in silence. Elvis had been asleep again five minutes after they got in the car.

When they eventually got him home Charles had ended up having to hold Elvis up as he struggled up the driveway. He wobbled unsteadily on his crutches, eventually admitting defeat and allowing Charles to help him. He'd pretty much been a dead weight as they'd made the last few steps into the house. Trying to navigate the stairs to get him into bed clearly wasn't going to be an option so they'd settled for the sofa in the end, Georgie fussing around getting pillows and blankets to get him comfortable. Charles made a cup of tea and then sat in the armchair, keeping one eye on Elvis as he battles to keep his eyes open. He couldn't help but wonder quite how sustainable this whole arrangement was going to be, particularly considering Georgie also had a baby to look after and it wasn't as though Elvis was going to make a miraculous recovery in the next couple of days.

There was a knock at the door at half past four and Charles breathed a sigh of relief. "It'll be Molly, I'll get it." He offered quickly, jumping up from his chair. Georgie nodded, not moving from her seat beside Elvis.

"Hi." Molly mumbled as he opened the door, stepping inside and kicking off her shoes. "How is he?"

"Hey." Charles caught her arm and turned her to face him. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. "What's wrong?"

"Don't." She shook her head, her bottom lip trembling. "I'm fine. Bad day at work."

"Are you sure?" He frowned.

"I lost a patient today. I really don't want to talk about it. How's Elvis?"

Charles was quiet for a moment, looking at her questioningly. "I don't know. He doesn't look the great to me. He slept most of the way home and he'd been asleep since we got back. I don't think we're going to be able to get him up the stairs."

"Okay." She sighed. "Let me have a cup of tea and then I'll try and talk to him."

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her.

She leant against him for a moment. "I'll be fine. It's all part of the job right?" She kissed him gently, pulling back.

He nodded reluctantly. "So they keep telling us."

"Come on, we'd better get in there or Georgie's going to think we've run off and left her." She half smiled, turning to the door behind them.

* * *

"Elvis." Molly knelt down on the floor beside the sofa, gently shaking him awake. "Elvis, it's Molly."

He blinked sleepily, looking at her in confusion. "What time is it?"

She glanced at the clock on the wall behind him. "About six. Charles has taken Georgie to her Mum's to pick Lauren up."

"Oh." He sunk back against the pillows again.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. He had at least got a little bit more colour than when she'd got there earlier. He looked exhausted though.

"Honestly?"

"That would be good." She smiled.

"I feel worse than I did when I first woke up." He admitted.

"Well, the good news is that I woke you up to tell you that you can have some more painkillers now." She put the tablets in his hand and passed him a glass of water.

He swallowed them quickly. "And the bad news?"

"You're going to feel like this for quite a while." She smiled sympathetically.

He laughed quietly, wincing. "Thanks for reminding me."

"I've got to head off when Charles gets back- are you and Georgie going to be okay?" She asked. She was starting to have some serious doubts about whether he should actually have come home at all.

He nodded, already struggling to keep his eyes open again. "Mmm… thanks Mol."

She watched for a second. "Okay… Promise you'll call me if you need me?"

"I will." He mumbled.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

"You look happy." She joked, walking into the kitchen. He was in his uniform, leaning against the kitchen counter with a mug of coffee in his hand. He looked half asleep still.

He rolled his eyes at her. "About as happy as you."

She leant past him to grab the kettle so she could make herself a cup of tea. "I've got a full day of clinical governance meetings I'm allowed to look like that. What's your excuse?"

"Three full days of training with two section?" He offered. "I love them, I do. But I also kinda want to strangle them too and we haven't even started yet."

She laughed. "Yeah, I know the feeling."

"Have you heard much from Georgie?" He asked, changing the subject. "I meant to go round there again before this but…"

She shook her head. "Time got away from you?"

"Something like that." He laughed. "I'm getting too old for all this running around."

"You love it." She reminded him, elbowing him gently. "Anyway, I'm sure Georgie's just got her hands full. She'll call if she needs us."

"I guess. I feel bad that I haven't done more to help. Elvis is a pain in the ass anyway and she's got Lauren to look after too. It doesn't really seem fair for her all on her own." He sighed.

"I'll pop round there one night this week and check on them." Molly suggested, resting her head against his shoulder. "It's not like I'll have anything to get back here for really."

He sighed. "I really wish I wasn't going away again."

"It's only a couple of days." She reminded him. "And it's only training. The only thing you're at risk of is one of two sections terrible practical jokes."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you're really selling it to me."

She glanced at the clock. "Go on." She nudged him again. "You'll be late."

He groaned, finishing the last of his coffee. "I feel like you're trying to get rid of me."

"Never." She laughed, putting her mug down on the side and stepping in to his arms. "You know I'll miss you…. Even if I am looking forward to having the bed to myself for a couple of nights."

"Ah." He grinned. "Now we get down to your real motives!"

She put her mug down and turned towards him. "You know I'll miss you really, even if you do snore constantly."

He rolled his eyes at her, kissing her gently. "I love you too."

"Love you." She smiled, burying her head in his chest for a moment. "Now go!"

* * *

It wasn't that she'd been deliberately trying to keep the fact her Mum was coming to visit from him- or at least that was what she'd been telling herself. It had just so happened that Belinda had called and asked if Molly was free for her to come up and visit at some point and the dates that she had suggested had been when Charles was away. She should've told him she realised, but the longer she left it the more difficult it became to find a way to bring it up. They hadn't really spoken about her parents since they'd been back from Cornwall and in the end she'd decided she'd just have lunch with her Mum and not tell him. Belinda would go back to London and the odds were once she'd appeased her guilt about not being at the wedding it would be a good few years before they'd come around again.

It hadn't stopped Molly feeling guilty when he'd asked her what she'd got planned for the nights he was away. Nothing much, she'd answered quickly. A late shift at work one evening, she'd pop round and see Georgie another night.

But there she was, sitting in a cafe by the train station, staring out of the window waiting to see if Belinda was actually going to show up. She pulled her phone out and checked it again, wondering if Belinda might at least have the decency to let her know if she wasn't going to turn up. She hadn't got a message so she stayed where she was, sipping at her tea and watching the people walking past the window.

Belinda did eventually show up. She was nearly an hour late, engineering works on the trains she'd explained as she sat down opposite Molly and apologised profusely. Molly had smiled and nodded, all the while sitting there wondering why her Mum had even bothered to come there in the first place.

"So…" Belinda looked awkward and uncomfortable. "Tell me about this Charles guy? You look really happy. It's nice to see."

"My husband? We are happy." Molly reminded. Belinda cringed and then nodded. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you meet him?"

"In Kenya." She said and she saw Belinda's eyes widen a fraction. "What?"

"Well… I just thought all of that… You'd just want to forget about it?"

"It happened." Molly sighed. "Along with everything else that happened afterwards. I wish it hadn't, but it did. I can't exactly go back and change it- can I?"

"No. I suppose not." Belinda agreed. "So you met in Kenya?"

Molly nodded. "They were doing some work in the refugee camp I was based in."

"And what, you just saw him and knew?" Belinda smiled.

Molly laughed. "Not even slightly. I thought he was a dick when I first met him."

"Oh?" Belinda raised an eyebrow.

"You know me, never been good at doing as I'm told. We didn't exactly agree on things out there." She laughed. "I was hoping I'd never see him again."

"So he turned up and rescued you after you know….?"

"I got kidnapped? You can say the words you know." Belinda shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "He was there yes, but I didn't see him again until after I got back and you and Dad kicked me out."

"We didn't kick you out." Belinda argued.

"Oh really?" Molly asked sarcastically.

"No one ever asked you to leave. You just got up and walked out without a word."

Molly laughed quietly. "Some things never change."

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?" Her Mum snapped.

"It means…" Molly hissed, lowering her voice as the couple at the table behind them turned to look at them. "You both made my life a living hell when I got back, don't try and pretend that you weren't glad when I left."

"You can't-"

"I can't what?" Molly glared at her. "I think we're done here."

"Sit down." Belinda snapped. "I didn't come all this way here for you to walk out five minutes later."

Molly stood up, her chair scraping noisily across the floor. "No. You came all the way here to ask me for more money- didn't you?"

There was an awkward silence as Belinda didn't even try and deny it.

"See. Some things never change." Molly sighed, blinking back the tears that were welling in her eyes as she turned and walked away.

She wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of seeing that she'd upset her.

* * *

She'd called in to see Elvis and Georgie on the way home. She'd spoken to Georgie the night before and promised she'd stop round at some point. Apparently being trapped in the house taking care of her daughter and her husband had started to take its toll on Georgie and she'd begged Molly to come and keep her company for a couple of hours.

When she answered the door Georgie looked absolutely exhausted and Molly couldn't exactly say she was surprised. She did feel a little guilty that she hadn't been around more to help her friend though.

"How are you doing?" Molly asked as they sat down with a cup of tea.

"I'm exhausted." Georgie admitted. "I thought if I got through the first couple of weeks things would start getting better."

"But?" Molly prompted.

"But… Elvis doesn't seem to be getting any better and between him and Lauren I can't remember the last time I slept for more than a couple of hours in one go." She admitted.

Molly smiled sympathetically. "How is Elvis doing? I was going to call and check up on you both when we hadn't heard from you but I didn't want you to think I was interfering."

"It's fine, really." Georgie smiled. "He's a bit more comfortable now. Dad managed to help me get him up the stairs and in to bed after the first night. He's just… well, I don't know… He just sort of lays there and stares at the ceiling or sleeps. He hasn't really got any interest in talking or watching tv or doing anything at all…. I feel like I'm having to force him to eat half the time."

"It's to be expected." Molly said slowly. "At some point he's going to have to process what happened."

"I know." Georgie sighed. "But I don't know what to say to him. He just shuts down if I try and talk about any of it."

"Yeah well… I can tell you from experience that a lot of the time the last thing you want to do is go through it all again and again." Molly sighed. "But bottling it up isn't going to do him any good either."

"What am I supposed to do?" Georgie looked at her hopelessly.

"Be there for him." Molly said gently. "But right now I'm going to look after my lovely goddaughter and you are going to go and have a nap. Doctors orders."

"You're a lifesaver." Georgie breathed. She was dead on her feet and the thought of another sleepless night ahead of her filled her with dread. "Are you sure?"

Molly nodded. "Go. I haven't got any plans, I can stay all night if you like. You really don't have to try and do this all on your own."

"Thank you." Georgie smiled, her eyes filling with tears.

"Go on." Molly gave her a gentle shove off the sofa. "Go and sleep while you've got the chance. I can handle those two."

"I'm going." Georgie laughed, already heading for the stairs. She didn't need to be told twice.

Georgie had been asleep a couple of hours when Molly stuck her head around the bedroom door to check on Elvis. He was propped up in bed on a mountain of pillows, much to her surprise he was awake and wave her in.

"What are you doing creeping around in here?" He asked.

She laughed quietly. "I said I'd stay for a little while, give Georgie a chance to get some sleep. How are you doing?"

"She looks tired." He agreed, rather guiltily. "It's not fair on her."

"She wants to look after you, don't feel guilty about it." Molly smiled, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You'd do the same if it was her."

"I guess." He sighed. "Doesn't stop me feeling completely useless."

"How are you finding it, being home?" She asked.

"I feel a lot better now than when I first got home." He admitted. "I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision the first couple of nights."

"I wasn't either." She agreed. "I wasn't that far off shoving you back in the car and taking you back to the hospital. You didn't look good at all."

"Cheers." He half smiled.

"What's wrong then?" She asked when he didn't say anything else.

He hesitated for a moment. "I'm not going to be able to go back to it- am I?" He asked, glancing over at her.

"Well…" She said slowly, trying to work out what she could say to him. "This isn't exactly my area of expertise."

"But in your opinion?" He pushed.

"In my opinion I think you'd be very lucky to regain the kind of function and fitness you'd need to go back to your job as you were before." She admitted. "It's not exactly a normal job, is it?"

"No." He sighed miserably. "It's not."

"I'm not saying that with the physio and a lot of effort you'll never be able to do anything again." She added quickly. He looked upset and she felt like she needed to give him some kind of hope that he might get things back to some kind of normal.

"Well what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you need to prepare yourself for the fact that you're probably going to need to start thinking about what you want to do next." She said softly.

"Stupid thing is I was ready to walk away after what happened with Jess." He shook his head. "Georgie knew I'd regret it and she was right. I love my job… but I guess now I haven't got a choice."

She squeezed his arm. "Charles will be back in a couple of days. He's probably better to talk to about this than me. He knows how it all works."

"Where is Charlie?" Elvis frowned.

"Some training exercise in the middle of nowhere." She rolled her eyes. "He's been complaining about it no end."

"I can imagine." Elvis laughed quietly. "He's been different since he's been with you. He was always desperate to get away from Rebecca. He never says it but I know he really hates having to leave you, even if it is his job."

"It's his job though. He loves it." She said.

"Maybe." Elvis agreed. "But I don't think anyone would blame him if he decided he'd had enough and just wanted a quiet life. I mean you must get fed up with all the stupid hours you work too?"

"Sometimes." She shrugged. "It was never really a problem before I met Charles. I didn't have anyone waiting for me at home."

"Exactly. But things change. I used to love going on tour, I still do. But now I have to think about what happens to my family if I don't come home. Charlie is probably thinking the same thing."

"Thanks Elvis." She smiled. Another wave of guilt over meeting her Mum without telling Charles it her. "You should get some rest. I'll leave you in peace."

"Thanks Mol."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Molly James!" Rob yelled as she walked past his office door.

She stopped rather reluctantly and walked back a couple of steps to look round the door at him. "Is that a walk of shame I detect? I'm sure you had those clothes on yesterday."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I was babysitting and didn't make it home before you start the rumour mill going. Do I need to remind you I'm married?"

He laughed. "Okay, Okay. If you say so. And anyway, just because you're married doesn't mean…." he stopped as she glared at him.

"I'd stop right there if I were you." She rolled her eyes at him and carried on down to her office, stopping off to grab herself a pair of scrubs to change into. Her neck was stiff from sleeping on Georgie's sofa, she'd still got a headache from the day before and her stomach was churning. It wasn't shaping up to be a good day at all. On the plus side she'd got twelve hours at work to get through and by the time she got back Charles should be home again. Until then she'd just have to work out how long she could get away with hiding in her office for.

She managed to hide and pretend to do some paperwork for a couple of hours, then eventually she'd had to leave the safety of her office and go and see some patients. She loved her job, she did- it was just that with a throbbing headache and her stomach churning the way it was she was having a hard time focusing on what anyone was saying to her.

"Go on." Rob smiled, nudging her gently as he leant against the nurses station behind her.

"What?" She sighed, turning around to look at him.

"Jesus. You look even worse than they all said. Just go home. You've got what an hour left of your shift? I'm pretty sure we can do without you."

She smiled at him gratefully. "You're a lifesaver."

"I know." He winked and she disappeared off to grab her stuff.

* * *

Charles' car was parked on the driveway when she got home. As awful as she felt she still felt a little bit of excitement when she realised he was home. It had only been a few days but she'd missed him a ridiculous amount. The idea of him giving it all up and staying home did have a certain appeal to it, even if she wasn't sure he was making the decision for entirely the right reasons. Beside, it had crossed her mind that a few days back with the boys and doing the job he loved might've changed his mind.

"Honey I'm home…." She called jokingly as she dragged herself through the front door. The house was silent as she shut the front door behind her. He had to be there because the door had been unlocked. She kicked her shoes off and stepped inside. "There you are! I've missed you." He was sitting on the sofa as she peered around the corner.

He looked up at her, holding a piece of paper in his hand. His face wasn't the warm welcoming expression she'd been expecting. Instead he looked angry and almost upset. "When were you going to tell me about this?" He asked through gritted teeth as he got to his feet.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" She asked, looking at him blankly.

"Stop fucking lying to me." He hissed, taking a couple of steps towards her and holding the paper out to her. "When were you going to tell me?"

She snatched the piece of paper off him, wondering which one of two section was responsible for his god awful mood. Her train of thought quickly changed as she realised what she was looking at. "Are you opening my post for me now?" It shot out of her mouth like an accusation before she could stop herself.

"Not intentionally, no." He shot back. "But it wouldn't have been a problem if I'd accidentally opened your bank statement if you weren't trying to hide anything from me."

"Why do you think I didn't tell you?" She argued. "Because you're acting like a child!" Her stomach churned again and for a moment she thought she was actually going to be sick.

"I'm your husband- is that not the point?" He snapped.

"Not when you're going to get all high and mighty about it no!" She turned to walk away from him.

"Where are you going?" He grabbed her by the arm and spun her around so she was facing him again.

"Upstairs." She snapped. "I'm not having this fucking conversation with you."

"Oh yeah. Real mature." He shook his head. "We're not done talking about this!"

She paused halfway up the stairs. "I am. Best you go and find someone else to lecture because I don't want to hear it."

He hesitated for a second. "You know what- maybe I will!" He shouted after her as she continued up the stairs. She heard the door slam as she reached the top of the stairs, the house seeming to shake with the force of it.

* * *

He didn't go far, only to see Elvis. He regretted walking away the minute he'd slammed the door behind him. He also didn't trust himself to go back until he'd calmed down though, just in case he said something he couldn't take back. There was something about Molly's parents and the way they treated her that he found so infuriating…. Even worse was the way Molly seemed to be totally oblivious to it. He knew at the end of the day they were her family and she was always going to want to help them, but it didn't make it any easier to sit back and watch.

Still, with a bit of hindsight he probably could've handled it better. But he'd come in and picked it up, opened it thinking it was his and it was right there on the page in front of him. He'd known about the money that she'd given them when they'd turned up at the house. But this, the next day. All he could think about was why hadn't she told him? And if she could keep something like that from him then what else hadn't she told him?

"Jesus mate, you look rough." Elvis commented as he opened the door. "Come in."

"You look better." Charles was momentarily taken aback as Elvis stood in front of him. His friend was slow and rather unsteady as he leant on his crutches but he was up and looked a little bit more like the Elvis he knew, which seemed like a vast improvement.

"Getting there. A bit too bloody slowly." Elvis groaned as he flopped down in the arm chair.

"What have you done with Georgie? I didn't think she'd be letting you out of her sight." Charles raised an eyebrow.

Elvis laughed quietly. "She's asleep upstairs. She was up half the night with Lauren… I'm not exactly much help these days."

"You'll get there mate." Charles smiled.

"So come on then, what are you doing here?" Elvis asked, straight to the point as always. "Molly said you'd been away, I thought you would've been at home with her now you're back."

Charles pulled a face. "Well…"

"Oh god." Elvis cringed. "What the bloody hell have you done?"

"Something really stupid." Charles admitted. "You know when you get angry and then you say something you can't take back?"

Elvis nodded, his expression grim. "Why do you think it took me and Georgie so long to sort everything out?"

"Good point." Charles sighed. "I should've stayed there and talked to her, I just needed to calm down before I did something even more stupid."

"And?" Elvis prompted. "Are you going to tell me what this is about?"

Charles hesitated for a minute. "No. I think I'm in enough trouble as it is."

"I don't know exactly what you've done but either way I wouldn't want to be on the wrong side of Molly. Good luck mate!" Elvis laughed. "Maybe you ought to have a coffee and give her a chance to calm down?"

Charles nodded. "That might not be a bad idea."

Elvis made no attempt to move. "Go on then Charlie, you know where the kettle is. I'll have one too if you're making one."

"Some things never change." Charles laughed.

"Don't forget I got blown off a building after I saved your ass." Elvis called after him as he headed for the kitchen. "Least you can do is make me a drink."

"I'm sure you'll never let me forget it." Charles laughed quietly. He knew he'd never be able to get it out of his head anyway.

* * *

Her car was still parked on the driveway when he got back but the house was silent. He wondered for a minute if she'd gone for a run or something to clear her head. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of retching coming from the bathroom upstairs. He jogged up the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the bathroom. The guilt he'd felt earlier was nothing to what he felt when he saw her sitting there. She'd obviously got as far as showering because she was sitting on the floor beside the toilet, wrapped in a towel and her hair dripping wet.

She glanced up at him as he reached the doorway, her face as white as the tiles on the wall. "Don't." She groaned. "I don't want to hear it." Her stomach rolled again and she leant forward over the toilet.

"I'll go and get you some water." He said, turning around and jogging back down the stairs to the kitchen. She still hadn't moved when he came back up and set the glass of water down beside her.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" He asked.

"I came home from work because I've felt like this all day and then I got here and you fucking ambushed me with a bank statement." She reminded him. Her anger of earlier was gone though, she just sounded miserable and fed up.

"I really am sorry." He tried again.

"No you're not." She shook her head, the movement made the room spin a little and she squeezed her eyes shut. "You just feel guilty. There's a difference."

"What do you want me to say or do?" He asked. "I don't really think we should be having this conversation right now."

"I want you to leave me alone." She groaned.

"Molly…" He stepped towards her and put a hand on the exposed skin of her shoulder. It was warm and feverish under his hand and he wondered for a moment quite how long she'd been feeling ill for. "Come on, let's get you into bed."

"Get off me." She snapped, brushing his hand off her shoulder. "I'm fine. Just leave me be."

He removed his hand and took a step back but didn't leave. He was fairly sure she didn't mean it, she was just tired and upset. She'd forgive him eventually, just like every other time he'd said or done something stupid.

"Charles?" She croaked.

"Yeah?" He stepped forward again.

"When I told you to piss off I meant it."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

He'd laid awake most of the night, listening as Molly made numerous trips back and forth across the landing from the spare room to the bathroom. He'd got up several times to see if she was okay and ask if she needed anything. She'd nearly bitten his head off several times and in the end he'd rather reluctantly had to admit defeat. He wasn't going to get anywhere and as hard as it was to lie there knowing she was unwell and not be able to do anything to try and help her, it really wasn't the time to be having the argument that he could see was brewing.

The house was quiet when he woke the next morning, he breathed a sigh of relief and hoped it meant that Molly was finally starting to feel better. She'd looked absolutely awful when he'd got up to check on her at just gone 4am, barely managing to lift her head to tell him to go away. He'd hovered in the doorway just watching her for a long time, not knowing what to do. Maybe if she was finally feeling a little bit better then they'd be able to talk about what had happened with her parents and clear the air.

He went downstairs and made her a cup of tea and some toast, heading back up the stairs with it to see if she was awake.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" He asked as he opened the door and saw her standing in front of the mirror putting her makeup on.

"Running a marathon?" She answered sarcastically, not even bothering to look at him. "What does it look like I'm doing?

"Well I would say getting ready for work but that would be ridiculous."

"Oh would it?" She asked, finally turning to face him.

"Yes." He nodded. "You're not well."

"I'm fine." She snapped, already headed for the door.

He put his arm out across the doorway to block her. "You've been up all night. You don't look fine." He argued, studying her face carefully. She looked exhausted and while she wasn't quite as deathly pale as she had been when she'd been on the bathroom floor he wasn't sure how much of that was down to her makeup.

"I'll see you later." She said quietly, ducking under his arm and hurrying down the stairs before he could argue.

"Molly wait-" he called, turning to follow her.

She didn't stop or answer him, disappearing out of the front door and getting into the car without so much as a backwards glance.

He stood on the doorstep for a moment, his fingers tugging at his hair in frustration as he contemplated whether to follow her or not.

* * *

"Dr. James."

"Yes?" Molly sighed, pulling her gloves off and tossing them in the bin. She glanced at the clock and realised that somehow she'd only been there two hours. It felt like a lifetime. She turned to walk back to the nurses station, the nurse following behind her but not saying anything. "What do you need?"

The young nurse looked at her, shifting uncomfortably. "Your husband is here."

"Excuse me?" Molly stopped dead, the words taking her by surprise.

"He um… He's in your office?"

"And how did he get in there exactly?" She snapped.

"He was at reception, Rob said he'd take him to your office to wait for you while I came to get to you." The nurse said, looking rather guilty. "I'm sorry?"

Molly sighed, squinting at the nurses name tag. One day she'd manage to remember all of their names, but today certainly wasn't going to be that day. "Christina, it's fine. Really." She smiled kindly at her. "Do you need me for anything else before I go and find him?"

"No, thank you. I really am sorry."

"Yeah. Me too." Molly muttered under her breath, reluctantly walking in the direction of her office.

* * *

She rolled her eyes as she walked into her office, unable to help herself. Charles was sat on the sofa and Rob had made himself at home behind her desk, leaning forward as he chatted excitedly to Charles. The two of them looked as though they were getting on worryingly well.

Neither of them noticed her stood there for a moment, Charles continuing with his story about Sandhurst that she'd heard at least a hundred times. Eventually she cleared her throat and they both looked around. "Don't mind me, it's only _my_ office. You look like you've both made yourself at home." She raised an eyebrow at them both.

"Just trying to see if I could get any gossip before you turned up and kicked me out." Rob laughed.

"What are you doing here?" She snapped, turning her attention back to Charles.

"Taking you home. You look like shit Molly." Rob butted in again before Charles could speak. Instead he just nodded in agreement. "It's not going to make my day any better if I end up having you as a patient as well is it?"

"I'm fi-" she started to protest.

"It wasn't a request." Rob shut her down instantly. "Now go with Charles and get some rest."

It suddenly dawned her. "Did you call him?" She jabbed her finger angrily in Charles' direction, glaring furiously at Rob. "Because you had no right and I swear to god I'll-"

"You'll what?" He challenged, she could see him glancing back and forth between her and Charles not sure what to make of the whole situation. "I didn't call him. He came to see if you were okay because he thought you looked awful this morning too. If you'd given me another hour I might've been calling him and insisting he take you home."

"For god's sake I'm absolutely fine!" She cried.

"Go home." Rob sighed. "Humour me if you like. Just go and get some rest."

"Come on." Charles stepped closer to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't." She snapped, shrugging out from under his hand. She grabbed her bag off her desk and headed for the door. "I don't suppose I've got a lot of choice." With one last glare in Rob's direction she headed for the door.

"Thank you." Charles gave Rob a tight smile as he headed for the door to follow her.

"No worries mate." Rob smiled back. "Good luck though, something tells me you're going to need it."

Charles laughed quietly as he headed out to the car park. He was going to need more than luck judging by the look on Molly's face.

* * *

"Come on then." He sighed, standing in the doorway of their bedroom.

She glanced up from her phone. He might've made her leave the hospital but there wasn't much he could do to stop her getting some work done from home. Maybe she'd finally get to read the hundreds of emails that had piled up. "What?"

"Whatever it is that I'm supposed to have done." He raised an eyebrow at her.

He saw her jaw clench and she dropped her phone in her lap. "I think you know what you've done."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Is this seriously all about your bloody parents?"

"No." She snapped. "This is about you thinking that you get to judge them and tell me what I can and can't do with my own family."

"Seriously? We're still on this." He sighed.

"Don't try and tell me you wouldn't help your parents if they were in trouble."

"They wouldn't ask." He said simply. "They'd never put me in that position in the first place."

She laughed sarcastically. "Of course not, I forgot they're fucking perfect your family!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He shot back before he could stop himself.

"It means that you looked at my mum and dad the same way you looked at me when you first met me in Kenya." She said tightly. "Like I was something you'd scraped off the bottom of your shoe just because I didn't grow up in some big fancy house and go to a posh school."

"I never said-"

"You didn't have to say it. It was written all over your face." She sighed. "Just like it was when my parents turned up."

He shook his head. "You're wrong. I was surprised to see them there, after everything that's happened. I mean it's not like they haven't had enough chances to actually make an effort and try and set things straight."

"She was trying, okay? When she came up here and we sat and talked. Yes she was late and she was probably going to ask me for more money in the end but she's my Mum Charles. I'm not going to stop trying. Even Dave isn't that bad really, if you can get past all the bullshit." She tried to keep her voice calm. This was quickly escalating into an argument she really didn't want to have.

There was a long pause. "So you have seen her again."

She felt her face flush as he stared at her waiting for an answer. "I-"

"Lied to me?" He suggested.

"I didn't mean to." She said weakly.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah. I'm sure you didn't. Just like you didn't lie to me about all that money you gave her. What's next? You going to tell me you bought them a house or something?"

She hesitated for a moment. Something had shifted in his expression and she could tell he was angry now in a way he hadn't been earlier. "Charles…. I-"

"Cut the crap." He snapped. "Like you said they're your family. Maybe you ought to have a think about whether _your_ family is more important to you than _our_ family though." He spun on his heel and disappeared off down the stairs, the front door slamming shut and then she heard the engine of his car start.

She got up and watched out of the window for a second as his car disappeared off down the street, the tears she'd been fighting back slowly rolling down her cheeks.

* * *

She laid in bed staring at the ceiling, all the while listening out for the telltale sound of his car pulling into the driveway. She couldn't work out how long he'd been gone. It felt like a lifetime already but she suspected in reality it was really only half an hour or so. She felt sick to her stomach as she laid there, replaying every word over and over in her head.

She shouldn't have said half of what she had to him, she was tired and upset and he'd been caught in the line of fire. But the trouble was, the more he'd said back the more she'd found herself getting angry at him instead of at her parents. His parting comment had stung, the words playing over and over in her head. Was he right? Maybe they had rushed into things, maybe she was still so fragged from everything that had happened in Kenya she'd never be able to get her head straight and be the wife he deserved.

She'd love to be able to tell him that she'd tell Belinda and Dave to sling their hook, that she'd cut them off once and for all and leave them to clear up their own mess for a change. She'd be lying though, just like she'd lied to him about going to meet her Mum. They both knew it.

She couldn't really put it in to words, the kind of relationship she had with her parents, and that was probably the root of the problem. How was Charles ever supposed to understand something that she had absolutely no way of explaining or understanding herself? How was she supposed to get him to understand that even though both her parents had screwed her over more times than she could even begin to remember she'd always feel that strange responsibility to them to make sure they were okay, even though they'd never do the same for her and she knew it.

She'd sat at his Mum's when they'd gone to visit just before he'd been deployed last time and watched them all together. It was like a window into another world, seeing them all there and so happy together. There was none of the arguing, door slamming and fighting over money that she'd grown up surrounded by. She could see it all in her head the peaceful childhood he'd had, growing up with two parents who not only loved him but loved each other too. Even he and Rebecca managed to be more civil with each other than Belinda and Dave most of the time. No wonder he couldn't understand the weird dysfunctional family she'd ended up stuck with.

Maybe it was her fault. Maybe she should've made an effort to take him down to London to meet Dave and Belinda before the wedding, actually given him a chance to see what he was getting himself in to. It was wishful thinking on her part really, that they wouldn't turn up at some point and start asking for money. The only reason they'd left her in peace for so long in the years before that was the fact she'd been half way across the world. Maybe Kenya did still have some appeal after all…..

She tossed and turned, trying to get herself comfortable, the throbbing in her head back with avengence and her stomach churning unsettlingly. She glanced at the clock again and then picked up her phone in the foolish hope that he might've calmed down enough to at least tell her where the hell he'd gone storming off to. Nothing, of course.

She stared at the blank screen for a moment, fingers hovering nervously as she tried to decide whether to text him. She decided against it in the end, after all what was she supposed to say to him? It had gone way past a simple I'm sorry by that point. She tossed the phone back on the bedside table and buried her head under the pillow to block out the sunlight. Maybe she'd be able to get some sleep so she didn't have to keep worrying about it. With any luck he might've made it back by the time she was awake again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Oh thank god." Georgie looked visibly relieved to see him standing on the doorstep. Then he realised she was looking over his shoulder, looking for Molly. "Where's Molly?"

"She's not here." He sighed in defeat, stepping inside the house and kicking his shoes off. Then it twigged in his brain. "What's wrong?"

"Did you not get my message?" Georgie asked, closing the door behind him.

"No?" He pulled his phone out and stared at the screen. No texts from Molly, but it turned out there was one from Georgie saying she was worried about Elvis and asking if Molly had time to pop round.

"What are you doing here then?" Georgie frowned. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that I just…"

"I'm not exactly welcome at home at the moment. We'll leave it at that." He grimaced. "What's wrong with Elvis?" He glanced up the stairs, wondering whether to go and check on him. He wasn't going to be much use really, they needed Molly.

"I might just be being paranoid." Georgie sighed. "He doesn't look right, he keeps saying he's fine and he just needs to rest but I'm not convinced. He thinks I'm being overly dramatic."

Charles smiled sympathetically. "I can call Molly if you like?"

Georgie raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think she's going to pick up if you're not welcome there."

"Good point." He winced. "But she's angry at me, not you and Elvis."

"Do I dare ask what you did or didn't do?"

He shook his head. "That's for me to worry about. Do you want me to call her?"

Georgie hesitated for a moment. "Please. Are you sure it's okay?"

"Yeah." He smiled. "It'll all be okay. You go and sit with him, I'll talk to Molly and let you know."

"Thanks Charles." She squeezed his arm before turning and disappearing up the stairs.

He went through into the living room and shut the door before he called Molly, just incase he was about to get another earful. He might've told Georgie it would all be okay but he was far from confident that Molly was going to want to talk to him at all after what he'd said.

He hit dial and held the phone up to his ear, a feeling of anxiety twisting in his stomach as he waited to see if she was going to answer. His heart dropped as he heard her familiar voicemail greeting. He hung up and tried again, and a couple more times but she still didn't pick up. He could practically see her sitting there, watching the phone ringing and ignoring him as some kind of punishment. While he might deserve it that didn't really help the situation.

 _It's Elvis. Ring me ASAP._

He sent the text figuring she might at least look at that and realise it was important. He stared at the screen, watching as it popped up the message had been delivered and saying a silent prayer he'd see that she'd read it. Nothing. He tried calling her once more with no luck before he shoved his phone back in his pocket and headed up the stairs.

He knocked and pushed the bedroom door open, Georgie looking up at him hopefully. "Is she coming?"

He hesitated, his eyes going to Elvis. Georgie was right, he didn't look good. His face had leached of all colour, there was a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead and his breathing seemed slow and laboured. "I'm going to go and pick her up." He said, their petty argument could wait until later, their friends needed them. "Are you sure we shouldn't just call an ambulance?" He was fairly certain that was what Molly was going to say the second she saw Elvis anyway.

"No." Elvis croaked. Charles hadn't even realised he was awake.

"Okay." He agreed reluctantly. "I won't be long."

"Thank you." Georgie said quietly, her attention turning back to Elvis as Charles slipped out of the room.

* * *

There was a horrible moment as he walked through the front door into the silence of their house where he panicked that she might not be there. He checked the kitchen and living room quickly before he ran up stairs to their bedroom.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw she was fast asleep exactly where he'd left her. Maybe there was some hope that she wasn't just ignoring him after all.

"Molly." He knelt down beside the bed and shook her awake. "Molly wake up."

She blinked at him sleepily, the confusion evident on her face "What are you-"

"It's Elvis." He cut in. They didn't have enough time for her to get angry at him again. "I've been trying to call you. He's not well and Georgie asked me to come and get you. He doesn't look good."

The words took a second to sink in but once they did she was up and out of bed before he could even process what was happening. She was still in her crumpled scrubs she'd come home from work in, her hair very much looked like she'd been asleep most of the afternoon but she didn't care, just heading straight for the door. "Well come on then." She called when he didn't immediately follow her.

The car journey back to Georgie's was silent. He thought a couple of times about trying to start a conversation about what had been said earlier. At least trapped in a moving car with him she didn't really have a choice other than to listen to him. He'd quickly decided against it though. It wasn't the right time, she was thinking about Elvis and the last thing he wanted to do was start another argument. They'd talk later.

She was out of the car and through the front door before he'd even switched the engine off when they reached the house. He was left trailing behind her, unsure of whether to go in and see if he could help or leave her and Georgie to it.

"How long has he been like this?" Molly asked the second she walked in, not even bothering with a hello. He couldn't help but wonder if it was the fact that she was worried about Elvis or if she was still pissed at him. Either way Georgie looked a bit taken aback.

"Errr… He's not felt that good the last couple of days I don't think." Georgie mumbled uncertainly.

"You think?" Molly asked rather harshly. "You're a medic for god's sake. Can you not see he should be in hospital?"

"Molly." Charles cut in, a warning tone to his voice. Georgie looked like she was about to start crying any second and she really didn't deserve to be spoken to like that. It was him Molly was angry at after all.

She glared at him for a second before her attention turned back to Elvis. Charles and Georgie both watched, almost holding their breath as she checked him over, asking him questions that he could barely raise his head to answer. Then she fished her phone out of her pocket and called for an ambulance.

Charles felt his heart sink. He'd been hoping Molly was going to turn up and tell them all everything was fine, nothing a bit of rest wouldn't fix. Her expression was grim as she stood up and walked out of the room to make the call. His stomach flipped wondering whether she was doing it deliberately so Georgie and Elvis wouldn't hear her.

He lingered for a second, watching as Georgie perched on the edge of the bed, smoothing Elvis' hair back as she repeatedly told him it was all going to be okay. He didn't answer her, his eyes staying closed and his chest seeming to rattle with each breath. He looked worse than when Charles had left to go and get Molly without a doubt. Unable to watch anymore Charles ducked out of the room to where Molly was standing on the landing.

He waited awkwardly for her to finish on the phone, her forehead was furrowed into a deep frown and she looked serious. He could hear her talking quietly but he'd be the first to admit that he hadn't got a bloody clue what she was actually talking about. It was like seeing a whole new side to her he realised, he had no idea what she did at work every day. It was like getting an insight into that side of her.

"Okay. Thanks." She nodded, hanging up the phone. For a moment he thought she was going to ignore him completely and walk straight past him, then she paused and actually looked at him properly for the first time since he'd walked out.

"You okay?" She asked cautiously.

He nodded. "Molly I-"

"We could have talked about this earlier but you walked out on me." She shook her head. "We're not doing this now."

"I-"

She quickly cut him off again. "You need to go downstairs and keep an eye out for the paramedics. I need to go and make sure Elvis doesn't try and pull any shit on me before they get here."

"Is it that bad?" He asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

She paused. "I'm pretty sure its sepsis, but I'm a doctor not a psychic…. Until we get him to the hospital we won't know."

"Okay." He agreed quietly. "I'll go and wait for the paramedics."

"Thanks." She said softly, disappearing back into the bedroom.

* * *

"Did I not send you home earlier or was that some kind of weird dream I had?" Molly groaned at the sound of Rob's voice behind her and turned to face him.

"Firstly, I'm fine. I was when you ganged up on me and sent me home." She rolled her eyes at him. "It's Charles' friend Elvis."

Rob suddenly went serious. "Okay. You need to go and wait in your office."

She shook her head. "Let me help- please?"

"No." He said firmly. "You know the rules."

She opened her mouth to argue with him and then stopped. "He's army, got blown off the top of a three story building nearly two months ago. He's had two operations to pin the leg, multiple broken ribs and burns over most of his chest. There was a head injury but by all accounts he got off pretty lightly."

"Ok." Rob nodded. She could see him working out in his head what he was going to do next. "Go and get a cup of tea and I'll come and find you when I've got an update. I'm assuming Charles is here. Go and find him."

She pulled a face. "How about I see some patients for you?"

He looked sceptical. "I'm not sure that's a good idea."

"I'm fine, really. I've had a nap and I feel a lot better for it." She pleaded. "I can't just sit there and wait."

He hesitated for a moment. "Fine. Mostly because I haven't got time to stand here and argue with you. You're not to come in here though. Go and help in minors."

"Thank you." She breathed. "Look after him for me?"

"I will." He nodded, turning and walking away.

* * *

"How is he?" Georgie was on her feet the second Molly stepped into her office.

"He's in good hands." She said reassuringly. She could feel Charles' eyes on her as she walked around her desk and picked up her stethoscope and name badge.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she headed for the door again.

"I'm here. Might as well see some patients." She shrugged. "I'll come and get you as soon as I hear anything."

Georgie sat back down silently, Charles followed her out of the door, pulling it to behind them. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" He hissed the second they were out of earshot of Georgie.

She glanced around. If they were about to have another argument the last thing she wanted to do was do it in full view of all her colleagues. "I can't just sit here and wait around." She hissed.

"Can't sit around and wait or don't want to sit with me?" He demanded, his voice a furious whisper.

She stared at him for a minute, taken aback he'd actually said it. He'd hit the nail on the head- she didn't know what to say to him given everything that had been said and it seemed easier to just not be in the same room as him until she'd got her head round it. "Well, if the shoe fits I guess." She shrugged, then turned around and walked away before he could say anything else. She needed to do her job, it was easier when she had someone else's problems to focus on.

"You can't just keep running away forever." He called after her.

"What like you did earlier?" She shot back.

"That wasn't the same thing." He argued weakly.

She froze mid-step and turned back to face him again. "You were the one who said maybe I needed to decide what's actually important to me." She said slowly. "And right now, that's my job. I think we're done with this conversation."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

"How's he doing?" She asked, standing at the foot of Elvis' bed. Her eyes watched the monitors carefully as he laid there

"Did I not tell you that you were to stay away and leave this to me?" Rob reminded her.

Molly held her hands up in surrender. "I know. I just wanted to see how he was."

Rob smiled sympathetically. "I know. He's stable for now. They should be here to take him up to ITU in a couple of minutes."

"Good." She said quietly.

"And what about you?" Rob asked hesitantly. "I know we're not exactly friends outside of work or anything but are you sure everything is okay?"

"Fine." She answered tightly, almost before he'd even finished the question.

"You sure about that?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "Because you looked absolutely awful this morning and you've not exactly been your usual overly cheery self."

She pulled a face at him. "Thanks for that. You're making me feel so much better."

"You're not going to turn round and tell me you're pregnant or something then? Because that might actually tip me over the edge if you go and leave me too." Rob laughed.

Molly stared at him for a moment, trying to process what he'd said. "Who else is leaving?" She mumbled, her mind still racing.

"Oh haven't you heard? Well Susanne is..." She didn't even hear the rest of what he'd said.

"Oh. Right." She mumbled. "Well, I'd better go find Charles and Georgie and let them know."

"You sure everything's okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." He called after her but she'd already disappeared.

* * *

Thankfully Georgie seemed totally oblivious to the atmosphere between Molly and Charles as the three of them walked through the hospital together to go and find Elvis after he'd been moved. Molly could feel Charles' eyes boring into the back of her head as she walked in front of him, explaining to Georgie what was going to happen next as far as Elvis was concerned. He hadn't said a word to her since they'd had their argument as she was seriously considering trying to find a reason to stay at work all night rather than go home and have the argument that was inevitably coming.

Then there was what Rob had said. She'd been sure that she'd just caught the same bug half of the department had been off sick with. She'd been so sure in fact that the possibility of it being anything else hadn't even entered her mind. Now he'd said it though it was all she could think about. The only saving grace with Charles being angry with her was that he hadn't once asked her what she was thinking about. Her fingers slipped into her pocket and gripped the pregnancy test she'd grabbed out of the supply cupboard earlier.

She just needed to get five minutes alone to see if maybe Rob had been right afterall…..

* * *

"I'm going to go and take Georgie home in a bit. Do you want to come or are you going to walk home?" Charles' voice was low in her ear, making her jump as he walked up behind her. She'd been lost in her thoughts as she stood at the end of Elvis' bed.

She turned to face him, searching his face for some kind of clue what he was thinking. He didn't look angry as he had done earlier, now he wore a look of resignation and worry. "I'll walk."

"Okay." He agreed quietly, his eyes still watching Elvis closely.

"He'll be okay." She said softly. "You did the right thing coming to get me." Even when she was angry with him it still hurt to see him looking so upset.

"Yeah. I guess." He said slowly.

She stifled a yawn. "I'm going to get going." She reached out and squeezed Georgie's shoulder. "You take care of yourself, okay? Call me if you need anything."

"You're going to walk?" Georgie looked surprised, her eyes wandering to Charles.

Molly nodded. "Charles is going to drop you back home. It's only five minutes to walk back to ours from here anyway and I'm dead on my feet."

"Okay." Georgie smiled. "Thank you, for everything."

"Anytime." Molly said softly. "I pop in and check on you both on my break tomorrow." She told her, heading for the door.

"See you at home." Charles added, his eyes following her as she walked away.

She hesitated in the doorway, her fingers gripping the pregnancy test guiltily again. "Yeah. See you at home."

* * *

She made it back to the house in record time. Charles had driven past her with Georgie when she was about half way back and the knowledge she wasn't going to have much time to do it before he got home pushed her on until the point she was almost running down the street.

It was odd. She always pictured this being one of the happiest moments of her life, the two of them finding out together and sharing the excitement. Instead she just felt sick to her stomach. There was so much left unsaid between the two of them after all that had happened. She wasn't really sure where either of them stood any more. That little cottage in Cornwall suddenly felt like a whole different lifetime.

Then as her mind had wandered to Cornwall she'd found herself thinking about Rebecca and Sam. Sometimes it was easy to forget that Charles had been there and done this all before. She found herself wondering how Rebecca had told him- she'd planned some big romantic gesture Molly was certain. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they wouldn't have been in the middle of a massive row about her giving her parents hundreds of pounds to bail them out.

Instead she felt sick to her stomach at the unknown as she sat there waiting for the result. Would he really be happy? Maybe he was regretting ever having said anything in the first place? What if he decided to leave her? Her mind was spinning as she sat there staring blankly at the wall ahead.

The alarm on her phone went off and it took her a moment to pluck up the courage to pick the test up and look at it. When she did her heart sank.

Not pregnant.

She hadn't realised up until that moment that despite all her worries about what might happen she really, really wanted this. Seeing the words sitting there in front of her was like a slap in the face. The tears spilled down her cheeks and she stared at the test. There was no need worrying about how she was going to tell him because there was nothing to tell.

She had no idea how long she'd been sat there when she heard the front door shut. Her stomach twisted in panic as she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. She looked around the bathroom quickly, before grabbing the pregnancy test and shoving it deep in the bin so he wouldn't find it.

"Molly?" She heard him call her name cautiously.

"Yeah. Hang on." She called back, her voice sounded strangled and she wondered if he'd notice. She quickly ran the tap and splashed some water on her face, taking a couple of deep breaths to try and compose herself.

He was standing in the doorway of their bedroom when she came out of the ensuite, watching her warily as she went over to the bed and grabbed her pyjamas. "Everything Okay?" He asked. She looked terrible, her face was pale and her eyes red and puffy. She'd definitely been crying.

"Did Georgie get home Okay?" She asked, completely ignoring his question as she climbed into bed. Her bottom lip trembled and felt her eyes filling with tears again. She rolled on to her side facing away from him so he wouldn't see her.

"Yeah. She's fine, well as fine as she can be." He said slowly. The rather abrupt change of subject hadn't been lost on him.

"Good." She mumbled.

"Do you mind if I shower quickly-I don't want to keep you awake?" He asked, his stomach growling. He'd realised on the way home hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

"It's fine. I'm so tired I don't think anything is going to keep me awake." She mumbled.

He hesitated for a moment, watching her. "Okay then." He nodded, heading for the bathroom. She'd obviously decided she was done with talking to him.

He shut the door behind him with a little more force than intended and he heard her sigh at him. He didn't know what to say or do try to explain to her how he felt, that was the problem. He wasn't angry anymore just…. disappointed if anything, that she didn't feel like she could talk to him. He'd admit he could've handled it a lot better and he'd said some things he really wished he could take back but she'd caught him off guard. He would never have thought that she would lie to him until suddenly he'd been standing there looking at that bank statement and wondering if if was the first time she'd done it and not told him.

He flicked the shower on, and kicked off his trousers. At some point he was going to have to sit down and really try and talk to her about this. Tonight wasn't going to be that night, he knew that, but they couldn't carry on ignoring and avoiding each other and hoping it would go away. He owed her an apology, but before he could do anything he needed to try and wrap his head around exactly what had happened.

He realised with a groan that he'd knocked the bin over the _again_ as he'd kicked his trousers off. Molly swore blind there was something wrong with it because it seemed to fall over the second either of them so much as looked at it. He'd promised to go and get a new one but like so many other things she'd asked him to do he'd never quite gotten around to it. He felt another twinge of guilt thinking about it.

He almost didn't see it as he scooped everything up off the floor and shoved it back in the bin. As it caught his eye he grabbed it and fished it out, sitting down heavily on the floor and staring at what he was holding in disbelief.

Then he was on his feet and opening the door before he had time to process what was happening. He fumbled for the light switch, turning on the bedroom lights which made Molly roll over to face him, squinting in the sudden brightness of the room.

Her stomach dropped when she saw what he had in his hand.

"When exactly were you going to tell me about this?" He asked, his whole body tense as he walked towards her.

She watched him warily. "If you'd actually looked at it then you'd know it was negative and there is nothing to tell."

He rolled his eyes, a sarcastic laugh escaping him. "So that makes it alright does it?"

"That's not what I said I-"

"For God's sake. How could you not tell me you thought you were pregnant?" He demanded.

"I didn't think I was." She shot back.

"You're going to have to do better than that because you must have done to take the test."

She pushed herself upright so she was sitting looking at him. "I was talking to Rob and it was just something he said… I thought I'd better check just in case. But I'm not, you're off the hook."

"Off the hook? What does that even mean?"

She took a deep breath. "It means that if you've changed your mind about what you want then you're in luck." She sighed unhappily.

He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe it's for the best, all things considered." He muttered, turning on his heel and going back into the bathroom.

When the door slammed behind him this time there was no denying that he'd done it on purpose.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

She was sat at her desk with a coffee three hours before her shift was due to start. She'd bought the coffee on the way in but now she didn't even want it. Her stomach rolled every time she thought about drinking it. It has been over a week since Charles had found the pregnancy test and he had barely said two words to her since. Then again she could hardly say that she'd made a real effort to talk to him. It was easier to just avoid each other like the plague.

The door to her office opened without a knock and she looked up to see who it was. "What?" She sighed, looking up at Rob as he shut the door behind himself and sat down. "Make yourself comfortable then I guess."

"I will." He winked. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

"I'm not here. I'm a figment of your imagination." She retorted sarcastically.

"Well…." He raised an eyebrow. "I have been on nights all week and I am sleep deprived so it wouldn't exactly surprise me if I was hallucinating."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Good, well if you don't mind…?"

"And if I do mind?"

She sighed. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything, I just walked past and saw your light on. Couldn't believe you were actually here."

"Well, as we've established I am…." she wondered for a moment how long she was going to have to suffer through this conversation before he'd get bored and leave her in peace.

"I know I asked you before and you said everything's fine- but are you really sure everything's okay?" He looked at her with concern. "Because you really don't look right."

"Rob." She snapped. "I'm not pregnant okay. Can you please just drop it?"

He held his hands up in surrender. "That wasn't what I was saying."

"Well what are you saying then?" She couldn't keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"I'm just saying that you need to look after yourself. Take some time off if you need it, I can arrange cover for you?"

She shook her head. "Thanks, but the last thing I need is to take some time off right now."

He looked skeptical. "Okay, well as you're here I've got plenty of patients you can see if you want something to do?"

She breathed a sigh of relief that he seemed to be done with his interrogation. "I'd love to."

* * *

It was just after lunch time before she made her way up to the ward to check on Elvis. She'd been up to see him nearly every day, he'd barely known she was there the first few days but there was a slow improvement each time she saw him.

"There's my favourite patient." She smiled, leaning round the door of his side room. "How are you doing?"

"Hi Mol." He smiled. "Better. Much better."

"You look it." She agreed, sitting down in the chair beside him. "No georgie today?"

"She'll be here in a bit." He explained. "What are you doing here again anyway? Don't they let you have days off anymore?"

"Something like that." She mumbled. He was a lot more perceptive now he was fully conscious, unfortunately. She wasn't about to admit she'd offered to cover loads of extra shifts to give her an excuse to avoid Charles. It didn't seem like something they needed to get into.

"You need to look after yourself." Elvis frowned. "You look tired."

"Yeah, I know." She answered dismissively. "So I hear you might be going home tomorrow?"

He crossed his fingers and held them up looking hopeful. "So they say."

"Are you going to behave yourself this time?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Did I not last time?"

She shook her head. "Did you not think you should've mentioned you weren't feeling well before the part where you could've died from sepsis?"

He winced. "Point taken. I didn't want Georgie to worry."

"Didn't want me to worry about what?" Georgie asked as she walked into the room. She walked over to the bed and kissed Elvis gently. "Hi Molly."

"Hi." Molly smiled. "I was just giving Elvis a lecture on behaving himself when he gets home again."

Georgie smiled. "I've done that one too."

"I'll go and leave you guys to it. I probably ought to go and get some lunch." Molly said quickly, getting to her feet.

"Oh you don't have to go." Georgie said straight away. "Poor Elvis is probably sick of the sight of me. It's nice to have some different company."

Elvis smirked. "Well I wasn't going to say anything…"

"Cheeky bastard." Georgie laughed, smacking his arm jokingly.

"No, I really ought to go." Molly smiled tightly. "Let me know when you're home though and I'll pop in?"

"You and Charlie are always welcome." Georgie nodded.

"Thanks." Molly grimaced, something that didn't go unnoticed by Elvis. "I'll see you both later." She disappeared before they had a chance to say anything.

"Go on." Elvis ordered, nudging Georgie.

"What?" She stared at him.

"Go after her!"

"Why?" She couldn't work out what he was going on about.

"You saw that look. There's something going on. You're her friend. Go and talk to her." He sighed, looking at her as though she was stupid for not immediately knowing what he was talking about. "Come on! I can hardly go after her can I?"

Georgie hesitated. "Okay. I won't be long."

She had to run down the corridor to catch up with Molly. For someone so tiny she didn't half move at speed. "Molly wait!" She called, breathing a sigh of relief as her friend stopped and turned around to face her.

"Everything okay with Elvis?" Molly asked.

Georgie nodded. "I wondered if we could have lunch? It's been ages since I've seen you properly."

"I've got to get back and-"

"Let's get a sandwich and I'll come back to your office with you?" Georgie suggested. "You can work while we catch up."

"Okay." Molly agreed reluctantly. She'd learned along time ago there was very little point in trying to argue with Georgie.

* * *

"So….?" Georgie said slowly. They'd been sat in Molly's office for 20 minutes and so far she'd barely said a word to Georgie or even looked up from her computer. Her sandwich sat beside her still untouched.

Georgie realised as she sat there watching her closely what Elvis had meant. There was definitely something wrong with Molly. She looked exhausted and anxious. She hadn't been listening to a word Georgie had been saying at all and it wasn't like her.

"Sorry what was that?" Molly glanced up from her screen. "I was trying to sort something out and I missed what you said." She looked guilty.

"Are you sure everything's okay?" Georgie asked again.

Molly pulled a face and Georgie knew instantly that everything was far from okay. "It's um… well, things could be better." Molly admitted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Georgie asked gently.

Molly took a deep breath. "My parents turned up." She said slowly.

Georgie couldn't hide her surprise. "I didn't know you still spoke to them?"

"I don't." She sighed. "It's complicated. Basically I had to give them a loan they'll never repay and Charles isn't happy about it." She'd decided it was probably for the best to skim over the gory details.

Georgie visibly relaxed. "If that's all it is I'm sure he'll come around. He's a funny one, forgets that not everyone's parents are model citizens like his."

"Maybe." Molly said, sounding far from convinced. "Except…"

"Except what?"

"Except I might've done it without telling him and then he found it on the bank statement." She admitted sheepishly.

"Oh." Georgie breathed. "Well that's…."

"All my own fault?" Molly suggested.

"I wasn't going to put it quite like that." Georgie smiled sympathetically. "But Elvis and I have both known Charles a long time and if there's one thing he really hates it's being lied to."

The look on his face as he'd stood in their bedroom holding the pregnancy test flashed through Molly's eyes. It was hurt rather than anger, and as much as she wanted to deny it she'd been wrong and she should've just told him in the first place.

"I know." Molly sighed miserably. "But I didn't have a lot of choice and we'd both said some stupid things and I was angry with him."

"Well, you've got a chance to make it right?" Georgie suggested.

Had she? "What if it's too late?" She kept playing his words over and over again in her head. It had kept her awake all night. _Maybe it's for the best._ She wanted to ask him what he'd meant. Did he not want to be with her anymore? It sounded like he certainly didn't want to have children with her. Where did that really leave them?

Georgie smiled. "Look at me and Elvis- it's never too late to try."

"Maybe." Molly sighed. She glanced up at the clock. "Sorry, I've really got to get back to work."

"It's okay." Georgie smiled, getting up. "I know you're busy. I'm always here though, if you need someone to talk to."

"Thanks." Molly called softly as she watched her friend disappear out into the corridor.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

Another week of uncomfortable silences passed, each of them doing everything they could to avoid the other. It wasn't difficult given the stupid hours they both worked and they'd been reduced to passing each other in the hallway and occasional polite small talk in the kitchen if they were getting up at the same time.

She wanted to say something, do something. She wanted to scream, cry and demand to know what he wanted from her. She kept quiet though, stealing glances at him out of the corner of her eye when she knew he wasn't looking and trying to work out what he was thinking. She didn't dare open her mouth for fear that he might turn around and finally say that he'd had enough and was leaving her.

So instead they carried on, living in that little bubble of awkwardness while she silently prayed as she laid in bed every night that things would get better.

Georgie called a few times and Molly had flat out lied to her. Everything's fine, she'd said. They'd sorted it all out and things were back to normal. She'd cringed as Georgie had told her how happy she was that her and Charles had managed to sort everything out and then invited them over the next day. She was having some of Two section and Elvis' special forces team over for a barbecue now he was feeling better. She thought it might cheer him up to see some people other than her, Molly and Charles.

Molly had quietly agreed, not really knowing what else to say.

She'd broached the subject with Charles the next morning as they'd both stood in the kitchen getting ready to leave for work in silence. "Georgie has invited us over for a barbecue." She said.

He didn't even look up from his toast. "I know. Two section and some of Elvis' old team are going too."

"Oh." He'd taken her by surprise and she struggled to know what to say. "You didn't say anything."

He sighed and looked up from buttering his toast. "I didn't think it was worth telling you. You can barely stand to be in a room with me for five minutes so I'm assuming you won't come."

Her stomach dropped. "Oh."

"Well? Am I wrong." He raised an eyebrow.

She felt her cheeks flush under his gaze. She looked down for a moment and stirred the cup of tea she didn't even want anymore. "I'll be finished at work by six. I could come, if you don't mind?"

He let out an exasperated sigh. "Of course I don't mind… but I really think that you and I need to talk before because _this_ can't go on forever."

"No." She agreed quietly. "It can't. But right now I have to get going."

"Of course." He didn't look convinced. "Don't forget I'm not coming home tonight."

She'd completely forgotten. "Okay. You'll be back tomorrow afternoon then?"

He nodded. "I'll come back and meet you here before we go to Georgie's?"

"Okay." She nodded. She lingered for a moment, thinking about giving him a kiss goodbye, then picked up her bag and headed for the door. Her cup of tea sat on the side untouched.

* * *

It wasn't until she got to work and found herself running to the toilet to throw up the tiny bit of breakfast that she had eaten the thought occurred. Sitting there on the floor of the ladies she counted backwards and realised with a sinking feeling that maybe Rob had been right after all.

Charles' words echoed around on her head. _Maybe it's for the best._ What did that even mean? Why hadn't she asked him? What was he going to say? Would he leave her? Would he do something like that? Could she really do this on her own if he did?

She sat there for at least fifteen minutes before she was sure she wasn't going to throw up again. Then she picked herself up off the floor, rinsed her mouth out over the sink and then headed back to her office trying to pretend nothing had happened.

She flopped down heavily in her chair, her mind racing. What next? How was she supposed to tell him? Was he going to think she'd lied to him again?

"Knock knock!" She glanced up at Rob as he walked in. "I can come back later?" He offered, looking at her expression.

She swallowed. "No. Come in. Shut the door." She said quickly.

"Okaaaay…." He looked unsure. "What's going on?"

She burst into tears before he could even sit down. Rob squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. The sight was almost enough to make her smile.

"Can I tell you something?" She asked quietly. "I know this isn't really something we do, it's just…. well I don't really know who else to talk to."

He nodded, serious for once in his life.

"And you'll keep a secret?"

"I promise." He nodded.

He sat quietly as she told him everything, taking a couple of moments after she'd finished before he spoke again. Molly watched him carefully, trying to read his face for some kind of reaction. It didn't really matter what he said, it just felt good to get it all off her chest and at least he didn't know Charles so there was no danger of him accidentally letting it slip like there would be with Georgie and Elvis.

"Well." He sighed, standing up. "Now I see why you wanted to work all those extra shifts."

She looked at him in confusion. "Where are you going?"

He stopped in the doorway. "Well what do you think I'm doing? We need to find out if you actually are pregnant first and then you can freak out about how you're going to tell him after. Okay?"

She nodded, chewing her lip nervously. "Okay. Thanks Rob."

He shot her a sympathetic smile over his shoulder and then disappeared.

* * *

"Now what?" She asked, looking up at Rob. She'd been sitting in her office staring at the result for a good twenty minutes. He'd been hovering nervously watching her.

"Well…." He said slowly. "I'd like to think I don't have to explain the entire concept of pregnancy to you. You make me wonder if you actually went to medical school sometimes."

She rolled her eyes and pulled a face at him. "Not what I meant."

He smiled. "I know, just thought I'd try and cheer you up a bit. Oddly enough Molly, this is a little out of my area of expertise it's not like I've ever had to tell someone I'm having a baby."

"Point taken." She agreed. "I guess I just have to figure out how to tell him."

Rob nodded. "Don't go making a whole load of plans. You might've got it all wrong."

"I hope so." She agreed quietly.

She sat there for a while, staring at her phone and wondering what she was supposed to say to him. When she finally plucked up the courage to dial his number she thought for a moment she might be sick again.

"Hello? Is everything okay?" He answered on the third ring. She couldn't blame him for assuming she was calling because something was wrong- after all she'd barely said two words to him for weeks.

"No." She swallowed. "Nothing's wrong."

"Okay…." She could hear in his voice that he was trying to work out why she was calling.

"I was just wanting to know what time you'd be home tomorrow- before we go to Georgie's?" She lied. She was going to have to pluck up the courage to tell him face to face before then.

He was quiet for a moment. "I'm not sure, it depends whether this lot get their act together and we actually get finished on time. It might be easier if I get a lift with one of the boys and meet you there?" He suggested.

"Oh." She was quiet. "I thought you wanted to talk first."

He sighed. "I did. I do. But then I started thinking maybe it would be nice to just enjoy the evening? We can talk after?" If he was honest the fact that she was actually willing to go with him and that she'd called him gave him enough hope that they could get through an evening with Georgie and Elvis without killing each other. Why ruin it with another argument beforehand if they didn't have to?

"Okay." She nodded quietly. "I guess I'll meet you there then."

"Okay. I'll text you when I'm leaving."

"Love you." She added quietly just as he was hanging up.

She sat there for a few more minutes, wondering if she could really get through a whole evening like normal without telling him. Was he just going to get angry again that she'd kept it from him? Maybe she could find a way to bring it up in conversation and find out if he really meant what he said?

Her mind spun with all the possibilities and she could feel a headache coming on already. The idea of going out for the evening was somehow even less appealing than it had been to begin with.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen**

She left work almost dead on time, something she realised she hadn't done for weeks. She was exhausted- she'd spent the night tossing and turning in their empty bed going over and over what she was going to say to him. All she could see in her head was the look on his face as he'd stood in the doorway of their bathroom when he found the pregnancy test.

Rob shouted good luck to her as she left and she felt her stomach flip again.

She'd gone home to shower and change and in the end had turned up at Georgie's just in time to park behind Brains. She could see Charles was lecturing him on his driving as he climbed out of the passenger seat and a smile spread across her face.

She climbed out of the car to join them, just in time to hear the end of Charles complaining about Brains cutting someone up and nearly causing an accident. She could see Brains was struggling not to laugh. "Hi Molly." He grinned, pulling her into a hug. "I'm glad you're here. He might stop lecturing me now."

"I'm glad she's here so I don't have to rely on you to take me home again." Charles shot back. "Remind me never to let you drive anywhere ever again."

"You're welcome by the way, for the lift Boss." Brains smirked cheekily.

"Go on." Charles shook his head, gesturing towards the house. "We'll be in in a minute."

They stood there in silence for a moment, watching as Brains disappeared through the front door. From the noise coming from inside it sounded as though the rest of Two section had already arrived.

"Good couple of days?" She asked tentatively. She wasn't even sure where he'd been. They hadn't even spoken enough for him to bother telling her anything other than he wouldn't be home.

"Okay I guess." Charles looked at her for a long moment before he spoke again. "I'm sorry."

"I know." She sighed. "I am too. But I thought we said we weren't going to do this now?" She had contemplated telling him there and then for a moment but it didn't really seem fair to drop it on him like that. Besides, if it was going to turn into an argument again then she'd rather not have the whole of Two section as an audience.

"I know I just… well, I just wanted you to know before we go in that I am sorry." He looked at her sheepishly.

"I know. I am too." She said softly. "But it still doesn't change the fact that we need to talk about this properly later."

"Okay." He nodded in agreement but she could see the worry in his expression.

"Come on." She slipped her hand into his and nodded towards the house. "We'd better get in there or god knows what they'll think we're up to out here."

He laughed quietly, squeezing her hand. "Thank you."

She squeezed his hand in return, not knowing what to say. Her stomach flipped nervously again.

* * *

"Oh bloody hell, it's you." Molly almost walked into the back of Charles as he stopped dead in the doorway out to the garden as someone spoke to him. She peered round him to see a man sitting with Elvis' old team that she didn't recognise.

Charles' grip tightened a fraction on her hand. "Bones." He smiled tightly. "I didn't know you'd be here."

Elvis laughed. "He's taken over my old team for the time being. The boys thought it would be nice for him to tag along."

"I see." Charles said quietly.

Everyone else looked just as confused as Molly did as to what was going on.

"Do you need any help with anything Georgie?" Molly asked, breaking the slightly awkward silence that seemed to have descended upon them. Charles made no move to take the remaining empty seat beside Bones.

"I was just going to get the boys some beers. You can give me a hand?" Georgie smiled.

"Great." Molly breathed a sigh of relief, pulling her hand out of Charles' grip and turning to follow Georgie. She couldn't help but smile when she glanced back over her shoulder and saw Charles rather reluctantly taking the empty seat next to Bones.

"Come on then, what's the story with those two?" She asked as soon as she was alone in the kitchen with Georgie.

Georgie shrugged. "I haven't got a bloody clue but whatever it is Elvis obviously knows…. mind you I'm sure we'll all find out. From what I've heard Bones isn't exactly one for keeping his mouth shut."'

Molly laughed. "I don't think I've ever seen Charles look so uncomfortable."

Georgie laughed and nodded in agreement. "How are things now? You both look happier."

Molly nodded. "We're getting there." Her stomach churned again. They might be taking a step in the right direction but how long was it going to last?

"Good." Georgie grinned, opening the fridge and grabbing a hand full of beers. She handed them to Molly, double checking she'd got enough so there wouldn't be a riot. "Right what do you want? I've got red, white…"

"Can I just have a lemonade or something?" Molly quickly cut in. "I'm driving."

"You can still have one with me can't you?" Georgie was already grabbing the bottle of wine. "Mums got Lauren tonight and Elvis is finally capable of looking after himself! You can stay in the spare room if not, I-"

"No." Molly quickly shook her head. Georgie turned to look at her as she answered rather sharply. "I'd rather not if I'm driving and I've got to get home tonight. Maybe next time?"

Georgie hesitated for a moment then grabbed one wine glass. "Okay." She nodded. "But good luck staying sober with them lot. They're enough to drive anyone to drink."

* * *

As Georgie had said, it had taken about fifteen minutes and one beer for Bones to spill the beans on everything that had happened between him and Charles at Sandhurst, much to the amusement of everyone there. Charles had blushed crimson as Bones told them all, squirming uncomfortably as everyone laughed.

"In my defence I didn't know they were going to do that." He protested. Bones shot him a look that made it clear he didn't entirely believe him.

They'd reached something of a truce in the end, Molly found herself sitting listening as the two of them caught up. Two section had got progressively more rowdy as time went on, except for Brains who was busy helping Georgie with the barbecue. She glanced over at Elvis who looked as happy as she'd seen him since he'd been home. Maybe Georgie had been right after all and some company was what he needed.

"Anyway, this is my wife Molly. Molly, this is Bones." Charles finally paused in his conversation to introduce Molly.

"I heard you'd divorced the old witch." Bones laughed. "Good on you." Molly smiled at him awkwardly.

Charles grimaced. "Well…."

"Oh come on, she was a miserable cow from day one. I never even liked you and I felt sorry for you!" Bones laughed.

Elvis smirked in agreement. Charles reached out and squeezed Molly's hand. There was a cheer from two section as Richards downed her beer in one. Charles rolled his eyes at them.

"Are you army too?" Bones asked, leaning forward to look around Charles at Molly.

She shook her head. "I'm an A&E consultant." She smiled.

Bones let out a low whistle. "All those brains and you're with him eh?"

"Did someone say my name?" Brains shouted from the barbecue. Molly laughed.

"It all makes sense now." Bones gave them both a knowing look as he shouted over the noise of Two section. Molly stared back at him blankly.

"What?" Charles frowned.

"All this shit I've been hearing from the Brig about you jacking it all in… I never would've believed him until tonight." Bones explained. "But now I've met her it all makes sense now…. your missus is knocked up and you don't want to be sent halfway across the world to some shithole and not knowing when you'll be back."

There was an awkward silence. "That's not-" Charles started.

"Oh come on Charlie, you can't fool me. It couldn't have been more obvious if you'd made a bloody banner!" Bones laughed. "I'm happy for you…. never thought I'd hear myself say that."

Molly shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Charles stared at her.

"Oh don't worry, your secret's safe with me." Bones winked, and then turned back to Spanner who was sat the other side of him.

Molly could feel her cheeks burning, Charles was still staring at her. "I'm going to go to the loo." She muttered.

He was on his feet and following her, she didn't have to look over her shoulder to know that. Her mind was racing as she headed for the stairs, trying to work out what she was supposed to say to him. She could hardly deny it- could she? How the bloody hell had Bones managed to figure it out when it had taken her so long herself.

He'd caught up with her before she could reach the kitchen, she spun round as he grabbed her wrist expecting to be met with anger and more accusations that she'd lied to him.

Instead he just looked completely baffled.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. "What was all that about?"

He ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head slightly. "That." He sighed. "Was typical bones…."

She smiled in spite of everything. "How come you've never told me about him?"

Charles laughed quietly. "Because I've done a pretty good job of staying out of his way since Sandhurst… he might've got over what happened a bit now but at the time he really hated me."

Molly smiled and without thinking took a step toward him. His arms folded around her automatically and she breathed him in. She'd really missed him. "Is it true what he said?" She asked quietly. "About you leaving."

Charles sighed, his arms tightening around her a fraction. "Nothing's set in stone, I had the chance to bring it up the other day and I thought I'd take it." He said slowly. "I'm not saying it's something I'll do right away but after what happened with Elvis and everything…. I don't want that to be me. Especially not if we're going to have kids. It's hard enough leaving you as it is and I missed out on enough of Sam's life. I'm not going to do it again."

She thought over what he'd said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"We've not exactly been in the right kind of place to have this discussion, have we?" He pulled away a fraction so he could look at her. "I kept thinking I'd wait and when we were back on track we'd be able to talk properly."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." She mumbled.

"I am sorry." He said softly. "I've been an idiot. Things have been bloody awful and work and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve it."

"I shouldn't have kept what happened with my parents from you either." She sighed. "We've both been idiots."

He laughed quietly. "Yeah, I guess we have."

"What's been going on at work anyway? You never said anything?"

He pulled a face and glanced out of the window at everyone sat outside. "We can talk about it later."

"Okay." She hesitated for a moment. "If I tell you something can you promise me you won't freak out?"

"Promise?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No really because the whole of Two section are out there and this needs to stay between us."

His face was suddenly serious again. "Promise." He nodded.

"Bones was right."

"I usually am, but please go on- I love to hear how. One of my favourite hobbies!" Molly whipped round to find Bones stood in the doorway to the kitchen behind them. He wandered over to the fridge to get another beer and winked at her.

She turned back to Charles and she could see from his face he was struggling to put what she'd said together. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" A grin spread across his face.

She nodded, having already completely forgotten that Bones was standing there. "I'm pregnant." She grinned back at him.

Bones nearly choked on his beer. "You didn't know?" He spluttered and looked at Charles like he'd grown another head. "Jesus Christ. No wonder all this shit keeps happening when you go on tour. You're just as stupid as I always said you were if you didn't notice."

Molly snorted with laughter. "You know, most people would just say congratulations." Charles shook his head.

"Yeah well, that too I guess." Bones rolled his eyes.

"Would you mind keeping this to yourself?" Molly pleaded.

Bones nodded. "I'll leave you two to it then I guess…." he disappeared back out into the garden.

Charles turned his attention back to Molly. "But how- I thought you said…"

"I did." She explained. "It was negative and I didn't think anything of it but I hadn't been feeling well and then Rob said yesterday about it again and well…."

"I can't believe it." He stared at her.

"Are you happy?" She asked nervously. She wasn't sure if his reaction had something to do with Bones being there of if he was genuinely happy.

"Of course I am." He grinned. "This is what we both wanted, isn't it?"

She nodded. "It's just-"

"It's just what?"

"When you found the test in the bathroom." She sighed. "You said maybe it was for the best it was negative and then I panicked when I found out that maybe you'd changed your mind and I don't want you to feel like you're stuck and end up hating me because-"

"Stop." He cut her off. "I've already said I've been an idiot. I said I lot of things I didn't mean and I've regretted it ever since. I'm really, really happy. Although maybe I wish Bones hadn't figured it out before me."

She laughed quietly, stretching up on her toes to kiss him. "Sorry about that."

He kissed her and they lingered there for a moment. "Come on." He sighed. "We'd better get back out there or god knows what they'll think we've been up too."

"Okay." She laughed, leaving her hand linked with his as they walked back out to the garden. Bones shot her a conspiratorial wink as they took their seats beside him again.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen**

Bones had rather unwittingly done her a favour. It might not have been exactly what she would've had in mind when it came to telling Charles but the overwhelming relief she felt that it was out in the open and he was happy overtook any guilt she felt about him finding out that way. Instead it just felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she let herself relax and enjoy the evening, with Charles' arm snaked around her waist protectively as everyone sat around and chatted. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed them all.

Elvis looked on wistfully as Bones and Spanner told him about some training they'd been running and a big deployment they'd been lined up for soon. She caught Georgie's eye and gave her a knowing smile. He'd miss it- they'd all known that from the outset but something seemed to have changed in him and make him remarkably accepting of all that had happened. He'd said several times how glad he was it was Bones who was taking over from him. Bones had quickly brushed off the compliment and gone back to having a little dig at Charles at every given opportunity. Two section thought it was hilarious, they'd never seen anyone get the better of their Captain except for Molly. Bones apparently had it down to an art form and Molly was struggling to contain her laughter.

Rather uncharacteristically of the very quick tempered Charles of late, he let it all wash over his head and she was starting to wonder if he'd even heard a word of what Bones had said. Every now and then he'd catch her eye and grin at her just as he had done stood in the kitchen earlier.

In the end she jabbed him in the ribs. "Ow." He hissed. "What was that for?"

She glanced around, no one had noticed. They were all listening intently to some story Bones was telling them about an exercise he'd been on in Belize. Fingers was staring at him like he was some kind of God.

"If you keep looking at me like that people are going to think something's going on." She hissed.

He rolled his eyes. "Am I not allowed to just be happy without people getting suspicious?"

"Not if you've been as much of a miserable bastard with them as you have been with me."

He cringed. "I should probably apologise."

She shook her head. "They know you mean well. I think anyway."

"Cheers for that, you're so reassuring." He laughed.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there, but eventually it started to get dark. The garden was dimly lit by a little row of solar lights along the fence and Molly could see in the dim lighting Elvis was starting to look tired. Two section on the other hand were full of beer and getting rowdier by the minute. Monk had wandered off and come back with monopoly, although Georgie had sworn they didn't own it and had no idea where he'd got it from.

The game was as chaotic as the one she'd watched them play all those years ago in Kenya. Fingers seemed to be making up rules as it suited him. Bones and Spanner had rather wisely stayed out of it, sitting chatting to Elvis and watching from a distance instead. Bones was muttering about two section under his breath, she only caught the end of what he said to Charles- working with that clustergobble was karma for what had happened at Sandhurst. Charles laughed it off getting up out of his seat to go and intervene in an argument that had broken out about the rules, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him look so happy and relaxed.

"Come on then, while he's not here." Bones moved across a seat so he was sitting next to Molly. "How'd someone like you end up with the likes of him?"

Molly laughed quietly. "I don't know if I should be taking that as a compliment or being offended."

"Take it however you like." He smirked. "You haven't answered my question."

She rolled her eyes at him. "Kenya."

"I heard he'd had a fling with some medic out there… first time he's ever broken a rule I think." Bones laughed. "Maybe me and him can be friends after all…. mind you not sure you can really call it a fling if you marry her…"

"That's not really what happened…" Molly cut in. "We didn't get together until after…."

"Oh come on, don't spoil it for me now." Bones rolled his eyes. "I quite like the idea that he actually broke the rules for once in his life."

They sat and watched two section for a while, the board game descending into chaos and more beers being drunk. She wondered if Georgie had considered the possibility she might end up with the whole lot of them sleeping on her floor because there was no way Brains was going to be able to drive all of them home.

"You ready to go?" Charles asked softly as she stifled another yawn.

"Yeah." She agreed. "I'm knackered."

"Me too." He yawned, getting to his feet and turning back to two section. "Right you lot, behave yourselves and please don't trash Lane's house!"

She said her goodbyes to everyone, wishing Georgie luck and promising they'd go shopping next time she had a day off, then they were out in the silence of the car and headed for home.

* * *

She'd barely been able to keep her eyes open the last five minutes of the journey home. The tiredness had hit her all at once and the idea of even walking up the stairs to bed was exhausting.

"Go on." Charles said as she parked the car. "You go in, I'll get your stuff."

She nodded sleepily, climbing out of the car and trudging up the path. She fumbled with her keys for a minute before she managed to unlock the door and stepped inside. She flicked the light switch on and off wondering why it wouldn't turn on, then remembered the bulb had gone the night before and she hadn't been able to reach it to change it.

"Charles, have you got any light bulbs anywhere?" She called back over her shoulder. She heard him shout something back from outside but didn't quite catch what. She fumbled her way along the wall until she got to the next light switch.

As she flicked the switch in the doorway to the living room and the room filled with light she froze. The back door was hanging open, blowing gently in the breeze. That wasn't what had caught her attention though. The room had been turned upside down. The drawers all emptied on the floor and the cupboards open.

"Charles!" She shouted again.

This time he came running, the panic in her voice had made his blood run cold. "What's…. shit." He skidded to a stop behind her. There was a moments pause. "Go and wait in the car. Call the police." He ordered.

"Where are you going?" She caught him by the elbow as he turned back towards the stairs.

"To make sure they're not still here." He said quietly. "Go and wait in the car."

She felt sick to her stomach as she paced up and down on the driveway on the phone to the police. She kept looking up at the windows, watching as the lights came on and waiting for Charles to come out again. She could hear the distant wail of the approaching sirens and then let out a sigh of relief as Charles came out of the front door.

"They're gone." He said, his expression grim. "Long gone."

"At least we weren't here." She said quietly. She was trying not to think about the fact that if it had been the night before she would've been there on her own.

His arm went around her waist and she knew he was thinking the same thing.

The police arrived and it all seemed to happen in a blur around her, Charles' arm securely around her waist the only thing keeping her upright. The list of things that had been taken seemed to be growing ever longer and as she stood outside, staring at their house she wondered if she'd ever actually feel safe in there again.

"Why don't you drive back to Georgie's?" He suggested in the end, his voice low in her ear. "I've called Elvis and told him. They're expecting you."

She looked at him for a moment. The words taking a moment to sink in. "What about you?"

He ran his fingers through his hair. "I think I'll be here a while. Do you need anything before you go?"

She thought for a moment. "I've got spare work clothes in the car."

"Well, we can see how you feel in the morning." He suggested diplomatically. "You go, you look tired. I'll meet you over there in a bit."

She stood there, rooted to the spot and made no attempt to move.

"Molly." He put his hands on her shoulders so he was standing directly in front of her. "Are you going to be alright to drive or do you want me to see if any of them are still sober enough to come and get you?"

She stared at him for a moment, clutching the car keys in her hand. "No." She mumbled. "I'll be okay. You won't be long?"

"No." He said quietly. "I'll be there soon."

She stretched up on her toes to kiss him quickly and then walked back over to the car in something of a daze.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen**

Georgie met her at the door. She wasn't even sure how she'd got there. Her mind hadn't been on the road at all. All she could think about was that someone had been in her house, going through her things. It wasn't so much that they'd taken things- after all most of it could be replaced- it was that the house had been her little bubble of safety away from the outside world and it was like someone had taken that away from her.

"Come on, come in." Georgie quickly ushered her inside. "I've kicked Fingers and Monk out of the spare room."

By kicking them out of the spare room what Georgie had aparently meant was they were now sleeping on her floor. "I thought they were supposed to be going home?" Molly raised an eyebrow as they walked through on the way to the kitchen.

"Yeah well…" Georgie grimaced. "Things got a bit messy after you left. Bones and Spanner are on the floor in Lauren's room, it's a good job Mum said she could have her tonight. I managed to get the rest of them to go home eventually thank god."

Molly laughed quietly. "What did you expect inviting them lot over?"

Georgie shook her head. "Every time I say I'll never do it again…"

"I'll remind you about this next time."

Georgie smiled. "Do you know what happened yet?"

Molly was suddenly serious again. Her stomach twisted as she thought about it. "No. They'd been and gone by the time we got home- turned the whole place upside down."

"Oh Mol, I'm so sorry." Georgie squeezed her arm and turned around to put the kettle on. "Do you know if much was taken?"

She shook her head. "I think Charles was still sorting all that out."

"Well…" Georgie hesitated for a moment. "At least you weren't home."

"Yeah, I guess."

It was much, much later when Charles eventually turned up. He'd crept through into the kitchen, dodging the sleeping soldiers on the floor, and joined Molly and Georgie in the kitchen. He looked exhausted.

"I think it's all stuff that can be replaced." He sighed as Georgie made him a coffee. "Your laptop, some jewellery and a bit of cash… oh and the tv... I'm sure there's probably more but it was hard trying to work out what should've been where."

Molly squeezed his hand gently. "It'll be okay."

"There's been a few burglaries in the area apparently." He sighed. "First I've heard of it but there you go."

"Do they know how they got in?" Georgie asked.

He shook his head. "The back door was open but it didn't look forced. We might've left it open… I don't know."

Molly stared at him for a moment, trying to think back through when she'd left the house. She could've sworn she'd checked everything was locked, it was a force of habit if nothing else.

"It's okay." He said, his voice low in her ear. "No point worrying about it now."

Georgie yawned. "I'm going to head back to bed, let me know if you need anything though?"

Molly nodded. "Thanks Georgie."

They sat in the kitchen in silence for a moment after she left. "Come on." He said, getting to his feet and holding out a hand to her. "Let's go to bed, there's nothing we can do right now."

"I suppose so." She agreed. She knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep at all so it seemed pointless.

They'd both laid there tossing and turning for what was left of the night. She'd given up and got up just before five, Charles had finally fallen asleep so she'd left him to it. She had a feeling once he was awake it was going to be all business again- talking about what they needed to do next and how things would be put right. In a way she wished they'd just agreed to stay at Georgie's the night before and not bothered going home. Then they could've stayed in that happy little bubble where they didn't know it had happened and she could've just enjoyed how happy he'd been about the baby.

Oh how things had changed in twelve hours.

She crept out to the car to get her spare work clothes so she could get dressed. Georgie had leant her some pyjamas but she felt a bit odd wandering round someone else's house in them with what felt like half of the British Army scattered around the floor asleep. She'd almost stood on Fingers as she'd tried to make her way back to the kitchen in the dark.

The rest of the house was silent as she quietly made herself a cup of tea. It was only then that it had dawned on her that it was the weekend and the rest of them probably weren't going to be getting up to go to work. She'd been working so much she'd almost lost track of what day it was in the chaos of it all. She wondered idly if Charles was going to object to her going to work. If it wasn't for the fact she knew it was going to leave everyone else in trouble she wouldn't be going. She was so tired and she didn't even need an excuse to hide from him anymore.

Fingers eventually woke up after she'd stepped over him for the third time on her way to the bathroom trying to get ready. He'd looked at her with confusion and muttered something about feeling like he was dying then flopped back down on the floor dramatically and was asleep again in seconds. She laughed in spite of herself.

She was on her third cup of tea when Bones arrived in the kitchen, she'd just been contemplating whether to leave for work earlier because the idea of sitting staring at the walls in Georgie's kitchen for another hour was far from appealing.

"What are you doing here?" He barely even looked at her as he walked straight past her and over to the kettle.

"To your left." She told him as he went round the kitchen opening every cupboard except the ones that had the mugs he was looking for.

"Cheers." He was quiet for a moment as he made himself a drink. "So is this like a thing you do? Sit in someone else's kitchen on your own every morning?"

She laughed quietly. "Not exactly…. we had a break in last night."

"Much taken?" He didn't bat an eyelid.

She shrugged. "I don't really know. Doing my head in too because I know I locked that bloody door before I left but if it wasn't unlocked then how else could they get through it?." She glanced up to see Charles also climbing over Fingers on his way to the kitchen. "Morning." She greeted him.

"Morning." He kissed the top of her head quickly, nodding in Bones' direction before going to make himself a coffee.

There was silence for a moment.

"Honestly…" Bones had obviously decided he needed to fill that silence. "The state of them two in there…. what are you doing to them Charles?" He pointed in the vague direction of the two sleeping on the living room floor.

Charles laughed, shaking his head. "I don't think this one's on me. They looked pretty okay when I left."

"You've gone soft mate." Bones shook his head.

"Gotta let them enjoy their time off." Charles shrugged.

"Speaking of." Molly stood up and straightened out her skirt. "I'd better get going."

"You sure you're okay to go?" He asked.

She nodded. "It'll give me something else to worry about for a while."

"You sure?" He raised an eyebrow.

She nodded again. "I know I locked that door Charles. There's no way I wouldn't have done and we always leave the key in it so it would've still been in there if I hadn't so-"

"Stop." He cut in. "Don't worry about it now, okay? Go and do your job, I'll speak to the police and we'll go from there."

She agreed rather reluctantly in the end, because what else could she do? She'd headed out of the door for work, leaving Charles to try and dissuade Bones from some plan he'd hatched to wake up Fingers and Monk and probably frighten the life out of them at the same time.

It wasn't until she got to work and sat down at her desk that she saw the message from her Mum. Just checking in to see how she was apparently. Like she'd ever believe them again. She ignored it, she'd deal with it later maybe, and went off to find some work to do so she could distract herself.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

They were sitting at home, each of them trying not to think about the fact that someone had been in their house, rummaging around in everything. But no matter how hard she tried she couldn't do it. All she could see were the gaps where things were missing, the fact that Charles hadn't quite put things back in the right place when he'd tidied up. Everything just felt off and she wondered briefly if it would ever feel quite the same again.

"Maybe we should move." Charles sighed. "I mean I know we've changed all the locks and things it just feels…."

"Weird." She finished for him. "I was thinking the same thing."

"I don't think they're going to find them." He admitted. "They didn't exactly sound hopeful earlier."

"Oh."

"I don't know… They might I suppose, I just don't think it's going to happen." He glanced over at her. She was picking at a loose thread on her pyjamas nervously. "Still, at least we weren't here."

"Yeah. At least we weren't here." She repeated weakly. She wasn't even sure why they'd bothered going back there. There was no way either of them were going to sleep.

"I'll go and put the kettle on." He suggested, getting up and heading for the kitchen. He'd been restless ever since they'd come home. There wasn't anything he could do, but he still felt that strange need to be doing _something_ even if making a cup of tea was going to do absolutely nothing.

"The key." Her voice behind him made him physically flinch as he stood at the sink. He hadn't heard her come in.

"What?"

"The key!" She pointed at the door. "I just remembered it went missing- can you not remember me making you pull the fridge out to see if I'd dropped it down the side?"

He stared at her blankly. He did have some vague recollection of being dragged up off the sofa to turn the kitchen inside out looking for a key. "So?"

"So that's how they got in." She stared at him like he was being completely stupid. "Someone took the key."

"How would someone even get in here to do that?" He asked sceptically.

"Oh shit." She whispered, staring at him in horror.

"What?" He turned and crossed the distance between them. The look on her face was genuinely frightening him.

She held a finger up to silence him and pulled her phone out of her pocket. How had she been so stupid? She'd had three texts from her Mum that day asking how she was which she'd ignored. She scrolled a little further up and there it was. She'd told her Mum she was going to be out late that night and wouldn't have time to call her. She hadn't thought anything of it at the time but now…

She looked up at Charles. "The only person who could've taken that key was my mum and dad."

"Molly, that's ridiculous they-"

She shook her head to cut him off. "No i've just been thinking about it and I'd swear on my life that key disappeared the day they came round. I remember coming home from work and not being able to find it."

"That could just be-"

"They knew we weren't going to be home. My mum kept calling and I told her we were going out all night." She admitted quietly. With hindsight she felt really stupid.

"I know they're not the nicest of people but do you really think they'd do that?"

"Rob their own daughter?" She asked. "If he's desperate then I really wouldn't put it past Dad. Wouldn't be the worst thing he's ever done."

Charles grimaced. "Now what?"

She hesitated for a moment. "We need to go to London."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's really a good idea?"

She shook her head. "No, but I'd like to give him the chance to look me in the eye and actually tell me the truth for once in his life."

For a moment she thought he was going to argue with her, then he nodded slowly. "Okay."

The initial anger had subsided somewhat by the time they parked up in front of the flats and instead she found herself sitting there wrestling with a delightful combination of morning sickness and anxiety.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Charles asked quietly, his hand rubbing soothing circles on her back as she tried to will herself not to be sick in the footwell of his car.

"Yes." She answered tightly. "I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."

"What are you going to say to them?" He asked after a moment.

She looked up at him. "I haven't got a clue." She admitted. "Maybe I'm just being ridiculous."

He shook his head. "I think the fact that the thought even crossed your mind means you need to talk to them. You'll only wonder if not."

She groaned, pushing the car door open. "Come on then."

"You feeling better?" He asked, walking around to the other side of the car.

"No." She shook her head. "But this bloody child of yours is never going to stop making me feel sick so we might as well get this over with."

"Okay then." He glanced up the stairs as she pointed up in the direction of her parents. "You really grew up here?"

She laughed quietly. "Yep… What's that look on your face about?"

"Nothing… It's just weird, I can't picture you living here."

"Well I was kind of a different person back then." She shrugged. "Also I'm pretty sure there wasn't this many steps here when I lived here." The stairs seemed to stretch out in front of them forever.

"We should've got in the lift."

She pulled a face. "If you'd ever been here before you wouldn't be suggesting we got in that lift."

"Is it bad?" He laughed.

She nodded. "Consider yourself lucky."

"Oh I will."

"What am I supposed to say to them?" She asked. Every step closer to the door they got the more anxious she felt. She wasn't sure why she'd wanted to come and do this in the first place now.

He stopped, pulling her around to face him. "They're your family Molly, say whatever you think you need to to convince yourself whether they did this or not."

"Okay." She agreed, but deep down she already knew the answer. She just needed to look her Dad in the eye to confirm it.

"Okay then." Charles said, taking her hand again. They walked the remaining few steps to the front door and he knocked quickly before she had a chance to change her mind.

She held his hand in a vice like grip for what seemed like an eternity as she waited for someone to answer the door. She wondered briefly if they'd seen it was her and were pretending they weren't in. She wouldn't put it past them. Eventually he knocked again.

The door did eventually swing open in front of them. "Alright, alright jesus christ…." Dave muttered, not even glancing up as he pulled the door open.

"Dad."

His head snapped up at the sound of her voice. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too." She rolled her eyes at him. "Can we come in?" She took a step forward before he could even answer, pulling Charles behind her.

"What are you doing here?" He asked nervously, closing the door behind them. "Belinda! Molly's here."

She turned to look at him, Charles squeezed her hand gently for support. "From the look on your face I think you know why I'm here."

"I… But…"

Belinda appeared at the top of the stairs, coming down to stand behind him. "Hi Mol, Charles." She glanced back and forth between the two of them nervously.

"Well then?" Molly looked at them both, wondering how long they were going to try and keep up the pretense that they had no idea why she was there.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Belinda asked nervously.

"We're not staying." She shook her head. "I just wanted to give you a chance to at least tell me why?"

"Why what?" Dave asked.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Cut the crap." She felt Charles' hand on her shoulder. "We all know it was you."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He shrugged.

"Of course you bloody don't… I don't even know why I bother!" She paused for a second. "Do I need to spell it out for you?"

"Look I don't know what you think gives you the right to turn up here again after all this time and start on me and your mother like this?" Dave shot back.

She laughed sarcastically. "I don't know? Maybe it's the same thing that made you think it was okay to rob my bloody house when I said I wasn't giving you any more money!"

Dave's whole body went rigid as he stood in front of her, but he didn't speak. Belinda stared down at the carpet underneath her feet, doing everything she could to avoid having to look at Molly.

"You're not even going to try and deny it then." She sighed. She'd known it was them, but it didn't make it any easier having it confirmed for her. "Fucking unbelievable." She turned to leave.

"Molly wait." Belinda seemed to have suddenly found her voice again. "I'm sorry, we didn't have a choice and-"

"Just stop." Molly snapped, turning back to face them. Dave was glaring furiously at Belinda. "You never even cared about me in the first place did you? This whole thing was just a ploy to worm your way back in to get what you needed wasn't it."

"Listen you ungrateful little shit." Dave was across the small hallway and in her face before Charles or Molly had a chance to react. She took a step back against the wall to try and put some distance between them a he jabbed his finger in her face. "You owe us. You're over there with you fancy job and your big house, that posh husband…. You wouldn't have any of it if it wasn't for us and then you turn around and tell us you aren't going to help us when we need it? What do you think gives you the right?"

"Wouldn't have this without you?" She shook her head at him. "I've done all of this _in spite of you_ and I don't owe you anything. I helped you out the first couple of times because I didn't want the rest of the kinds going through the same shit as me… It doesn't mean I'm going to spend the rest of my life bailing you out and it sure as hell doesn't mean you can turn around and steal from me when I say no!"

"If we'd had another choice Molly…" Belinda cut in.

"Save it. We're done. I don't want to hear it." Molly shook her head, side stepping around Dave. "Don't ever even think about coming to ask me for help again."

She was out of the door before anyone else could say a word. Charles lingered for a moment, thinking before he opened his mouth. "I'm not going to call the police on the condition that you never come near us again. If we ever get so much as text from either of you ever again then don't think I won't go straight to the police and tell them everything."

"Thank you." Belinda smiled gratefully.

"Don't thank me." He snapped. "I'm doing this for _my_ family. Because as much as I'd love to see you get punished for what you've done, it makes me feel a whole lot better knowing that you're never going to come anywhere near you grandchild and have the chance to fuck their life up the way you tried to with Molly's."

"My _grandchild_?" Belinda started at him. "Molly's-"

"Yes." He nodded. "But it doesn't matter, because neither of you are ever going to see us again. I'm not going to let you do anything like this to us again." He turned around and followed Molly out of the door before they could say anything else.


	20. Chapter 20

_I feel like I owe everyone an apology for how long it's taken me to get around to posting this. I haven't been able to get myself in the right frame of mind to try and finish it. Thank you for being so patient and I'll try not to leave it quite so long next time! Bex x_

Chapter Twenty

"Come and sit down, should you really be doing that?" Charles asked, walking in to find Molly balanced on a chair trying to reach something out of the top of their kitchen cupboards.

"Well, if you keep coming in here and making me jump so I fall off then we'll have a problem." She grumbled, slowly climbing down and turning to look at him. "Why do you keep putting stuff up there anyway? You know I can't reach it!"

"If you'd just asked me I would've come and got it for you." He pointed out, reaching up to get the tub she'd been trying to get for her. "You need to be careful."

She rolled her eyes at him, unable to help herself. "Yes Sir."

"Don't roll your eyes at me because I'm worried about you." He sighed, his hand coming to rest on her ever growing stomach.

"I'm quite capable of getting something of a shelf without your help." She sighed. "Do I need to remind you I go to work and literally save lives all day?"

"No." He muttered unhappily. "You know how I feel about that."

It was true, she did. They'd had so many conversations about her continuing to work she knew exactly where he stood on it. From what he'd said he basically wanted to wrap her in cotton wool and keep her home all day. Molly on the other hand had decided she wanted to keep working for as long as she could, despite his frequent attempts to persuade her otherwise.

"It's just a few more weeks." She said softly. She did feel a bit guilty about it, it was obviously stressing him out. "It'll be worth it to have longer off afterwards."

"I guess." He sighed. "It's not going to stop me worrying though."

"I know." She said guiltily. "But I promised you I'd be sensible and I am… You're just going to have to trust me."

There was a knock at the door and smile crossed his face. "That will be Georgie and Elvis." He said, dashing off to get the door.

Molly trailed behind him, much more slowly. She wasn't going to admit it to him but her whole body was aching and she just wanted to sleep. She'd forgotten all about the fact Georgie and Elvis were coming over.

"Hey, how're you doing?" Georgie asked as she shuffled down the hallway, going to give Molly a hug.

Molly hugged her back rather awkwardly, her ever expanding stomach getting in the way. "I'm fat and tired." She joked.

Georgie laughed. "Yeah, I remember that."

"Come on, let's go sit down." Molly nodded towards the living room. Charles and Elvis were still stood in the doorway deep in conversation. They were planning something no doubt.

"Charles said you're still working?" Georgie asked as they say down.

Molly grimaced. "Yeah. I wanted to carry on so I could have more time off after the baby is born." Quite why she'd decided that was a good idea she'd never know.

"That must be hard?" Georgie pressed when Molly didn't go any further.

Molly bit her lip. "It's only for a few more weeks. Besides, I've been spending a lot of time doing paperwork and supervising the juniors. I can sit down more that way." She laughed.

Georgie laughed with her for a moment before her face was serious again. "Seriously though, you look after yourself. Charles will be beside himself with worry."

He stuck his head around the door. "What are you saying about me?"

"Nothing." Molly shot back.

The door swung open to reveal Elvis standing next to him. "What are you two doing?" Georgie asked, looking them both up and down.

"We're going running." Elvis grinned.

"Are you really sure that's a good idea?" Georgie frowned.

"No. I'm not." Molly chipped in. "Are you really sure you're up to this Elvis? You nearly died for a God's sake. You need to take things easy."

"Now I don't think you're in a position to be lecturing me on taking things easy." Elvis smirked. "I'm fit as a fiddle. The quicker I get my fitness back the quicker I can get back to work."

"Come on." Charles slapped him on the back. "Get a move on or we won't be back in time for dinner."

"Back for dinner? Charles it's only two o'clock now how far are you-" the door slammed behind them and she could hear them laughing. "Going…" she finished quietly, knowing full well he couldn't hear her.

"Those two are a bloody nightmare." Georgie sighed.

"How do you feel about him going back to work?" Molly asked after a moment. She could see the tension on Georgie's face at the very mention of it.

"Honestly?" She sighed. "I was trying not to think about it. I thought it would take him so long to get back to fitness I'd just worry about it when the time came. But you know what he's like, no patience at all and I think he'll be back out there in no time. I can't say I'm looking forward to it."

"No." Molly mumbled. "Me neither."

"I half wondered if Charles might call it a day, with the baby and everything." Georgie said. "I take it that's not happening?"

Molly pulled a face. "He was talking about going to work in training or something, so he wouldn't have to be away as much. But he's going to have to wait for a job to come up…"

"And you'll just have to hope he doesn't get deployed in the meantime." Georgie said, finishing the sentence for her.

"Exactly." Molly nodded. "I mean don't get me wrong, it's not that I want him to give up his career and everything for me. He loves his job, and I know I'd never give up my job for him. It's just that… well, my job doesn't involve flying off into a war zone and hoping I come out in one piece."

Georgie nodded in agreement. "I had the same conversation with Elvis. I thought I was fine with it, and then I saw how close our daughter came to growing up without a father."

"What did Elvis say?" Molly asked.

Georgie pulled a face. "He's a bit like Charles I think, not that he'd ever admit it. They've both been in the army so long the idea of not having it terrifies them. But at the same time, neither of them want to miss out on half their child's life because they were on the other side of the world."

Molly smiled sympathetically.

Georgie attempted to make herself look more cheerful. "Who knows, maybe they'll end up working in training together or something?"

"Oh god." Molly groaned. "Can you imagine? I'm really not sure that the army is ready for that."

Georgie laughed. "No, I think you might be right."

"They'd better not be gone too long. I wanted Elvis to try and help Charles build the furniture we got for the baby. He's useless at it and he won't even let me near it!" Molly muttered.

Georgie laughed. "I hate to break it to you but my Dad had to come round and fix most of what Elvis did at ours because he's no good at it either."

"Maybe not then." Molly laughed. "I might need to borrow your Dad for an afternoon at this rate."

"Don't joke about it. You know he'd be round here like a shot if you asked him." Georgie smiled.

"I'm not sure I am joking." Molly returned the smile.

There was a moment's silence before Georgie spoke again. "I take it you're still not speaking to your parents then?"

Molly grimaced. "Not a peep out of either of them since we went down there."

"Is that a good thing?" Georgie asked. She couldn't really work out from Molly's expression if her friend was happy about it or not.

Molly shrugged. "I suppose. I mean who needs parents around who are willing to break into your house and rob you?"

"Well no, there is that." Georgie mumbled, not really knowing what to say.

"I'm just not looking forward to having to explain in a few years time why this baby only gets to meet one set of grandparents."

"You really don't think you'll be able to sort things out with them then?" Georgie asked, surprised by quite how final Molly sounded.

Molly shook her head. "No. Even if I thought Charles would be able to forgive them, which I know he won't… I don't think I could either. Not after everything else. I think it's best to just pretend they don't exist. Besides, it's not like Charles's parents aren't going to spoil this baby enough to make up for it."

"No, that's a good point." Georgie laughed, sensing Molly wanted to change the subject. "Have you seen them much?"

"They haven't actually been here that much but she's on the phone every five minutes wanting to know when I'm free to go shopping with her." Molly laughed. "Why do you think I wanted to keep working? If not she'll be dragging me round the shops every day."

"Well I was going to ask if you wanted to come shopping with me during the week but I'll take that as a no." Georgie teased.

"That sounds like a much better idea." Molly grinned. "Just don't tell Charles, I mean I love his Mum but…"

"Yeah, I get it." Georgie laughed. "My lips are sealed."

Molly grinned back at her. "Right, I'd better start cooking although god knows when those two will actually be home."

Georgie rolled her eyes. "Who knows… I'll come give you a hand though."


End file.
